


Best of me

by niamcuddles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Single Parent Niall, famous!Liam, the usual as always
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-10-04 10:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 260,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17303063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamcuddles/pseuds/niamcuddles
Summary: Though Niall's life as a single father of a 6-year-old is stressful and completely exhausting, he still wouldn't trade it in for the world. Between trying to juggle new jobs, a social life and spending enough time with his daughter, a love life is the very last thing on his mind. And yet somehow all of it seems to connect.(Or where Niall's daughter is a huge fan of Liam Payne, an international popstar, and Niall just wants her to be happy.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the song of the same name by Sum 41.
> 
> (Taking one of Liam's songs as the title felt too cheesy haha)

“Daddy, we have to go.“ Niall’s daughter told him probably the tenth time, each time getting slightly more firm because he still hadn’t shut his laptop. “It’s already 12.”

“Darling, we’re gonna leave in half an hour, okay? Can you tell when that is on your clock?” Honestly, Niall wasn’t sure anymore whether it had been a good idea for May’s school to teach them how to read the clock so early on, because ever since last week, it felt their whole lives were suddenly being timed by the little girl. 

“But we can’t be late, why can’t we go nooow?” She whined, discarding the toy clock on the couch next to Niall before crawling on it herself. There was no way Niall would be able to finish this Email in time and he knew it wouldn’t be necessary anyways, but he had no idea when they’d get back home. “What if they won’t let us go in anymore?”

“We have the tickets, I promise they will let us go inside. And if we show up early you’re only going to get bored. Tell you what, you can eat three more cookies if you let me finish this right now and then we can leave, okay?” Bribing wasn’t exactly the best parenting technique, but no one was around to judge Niall for it anyways. “Did you finish your letter?”

“I already finished it _last week_.” She told him, probably rolling her eyes at him when she jumped off the couch again and Niall would have laughed but he didn’t wanna encourage that behavior. So instead he ignored it, trying to shut out her very loud footsteps in the kitchen as he kept working on the Email while his daughter was probably eating more than 3 cookies in the other room. 

Niall’s week had been so stressful, he could have needed a 10 hour lie down instead of a concert visit, but May had been waiting for this day for 8 months now and she had even been somewhat patient about it although they had had to re plan her outfit every week for the past 3 months or so. 

None of this would have been so bad had Niall not had to pay a fortune on top of it, but… he couldn’t have said no. Not to his daughter meeting her favorite singer, who was wildly inappropriate to be idolized by a 6 year old girl for the past 2 years, but maybe Niall was also a little bit glad that they had at least jumped the obsession with whatever cartoon characters were on TV right now. Instead, they had gone straight to fantasizing about a man older than Niall himself singing about sex and apparently having an aversion to wearing shirts 7 days a week. Much better.

“We have to leave in 5 minutes.” May came back when it was almost time and for a second, Niall wanted to tell her that he was sure she had misread the clock, but turned out that she was indeed right and it was him who had forgotten the time.

“Okay, I’m already done. Go get your coat, alright?” There was a happy squeal when he turned off his laptop, feeling slightly bad about not having gotten to finish on time, but… Harry had told him to take the day off anyways, Niall had simply been feeling bad about it. 

He made sure 5 times that he had the tickets because he didn’t even wanna begin to imagine the drama of having to go back home, even if there would have been enough time to do so anyways. 

“Daddy, can we please listen to the CD now? Just today.” Niall’s daughter was begging from her car seat in the back, almost whacking Niall in the head with the CD that she seemed to have brought without him even noticing. Great.

“Alright, just today though.” Any other day except maybe her birthday or Christmas, Niall would have said no, simply because he had to listen to this guy at home on a daily basis, it felt like a fair deal to ban him out of this car at least. “I don’t know if I even know all the lyrics yet.”

“What?! But you have to know them for the concert.” She demanded, sounding really stressed out about it, as if Niall wouldn’t be allowed inside if he didn’t. 

“I’m gonna try my best so Liam won’t notice, I promise, bug.” Niall half joked before putting the CD in to get it over with, making sure to check one more time that his daughter was buckled in also before starting the car. It was only a 30 minute drive with all the traffic and Harry had told Niall it’d be fine if he parked the car in his spot in front of the firm because it was closed on Saturday’s anyways. That’s why Niall felt even worse about not finishing all his work, but he was determined to make up for it tomorrow.

“Do you think he’s gonna read my letter?” May asked in between songs, making Niall’s stomach drop a little. He hated lying to her, but it wasn’t a real lie because he genuinely didn’t know, he just had his suspicions as any parent would have had in this situation.

“I don’t know, love. He might, it might just take a bit because he probably gets lots of letters.” Niall tried to not make it sound so bad though he knew the possibility of this singer ever reading any letter at all was pretty much zero. “But I’m sure he tries his best to read as many as possible.”

“My friends at school said he’s just gonna throw them all away.” Well…

“How would they even know that, hm?” To be very fair here, Niall knew and had seen way too much about Liam Payne, and he didn’t seem like the kinda celebrity who hated his fans in any way, but there was no way to tell what he was really like. And none of them would ever find out the truth anyways, Niall simply wanted his daughter to be happy. 

“I don’t know. They don’t even like him, they said he’s too old and that their parents said there’s too many swear words in his songs.” True.

“Yeah, but you know what we said about that, right? Sometimes adult say those things, but you can’t repeat them and you gotta-“

“Leave them out when I sing along. I know, daddy.” She sounded annoyed at him and Niall bit back a laugh, instead thinking about how much his daughter’s friend’s parents’ hated him. Not all of them, but quite a few, mostly because he was a lot younger than them but then came also that he hadn’t finished uni, that they didn’t have a lot of money, didn’t live in the best area and so forth. Not like Niall still cared about those things, he was trying his best and at least his daughter was well mannered and sweet compared to a lot of her classmates.

“Good, I’m just making sure. Have you thought about what you’re gonna do in the pic-“

“Wait, it’s my favorite song!” So that conversation was over and Niall let himself be talked into turning up the volume just a bit, just because he enjoyed when May was this happy and bubbly. Hopefully she wouldn’t be all sad afterwards that it was all over, but they had already talked about this many times before and she had promised Niall that she would be just fine, but that was always… questionable.

They had to walk a bit to the venue from the parking lot from Harry’s work place, running slightly behind schedule, but it’s not like they were going to be late or anything because in all honesty, Niall saw absolutely no reason as to why they had to show up this early. Yeah, there were probably a whole ton of people and all, but still. It was almost 1.30 in the afternoon and the concert itself would only start in like 7 hours and just thinking about that made Niall wanna cry a little if he was being honest with himself.

Niall was holding May’s hand as tightly as possible because he was a little afraid she’d see like, a merch stand or whatever else with Liam’s face on and simply take off without asking him first, so when his phone was going off, he had quite some trouble finding it in his pockets and also navigating himself and his daughter towards the entrance somehow.

“Hi, everything okay?” Niall had only briefly checked the display before picking up, slightly confused as to why Zayn was calling him NOW. 

“Everything’s good, just thought I’d wish you lots of fun seeing your favorite singer of all time.” Of course he would call just to say that.

“Thank you so much, Z. Did you only just wake up? It’s afternoon.” His voice sounded a bit raspy, as far as Niall could tell when there was so much screaming going on around them and so many people almost bumping into them. 

“It’s Saturday, I need my rest, you know that. You won’t believe what kinda stupid essays I’ve gotten from my students last night, I was up until 3 am… did you know that Shakespeare invented the light bulb? I was quite shocked as well.” That made Niall laugh, but only because it was probably something he would have written as a student also. “Can you give me May for a sec?”

So Niall handed the phone to his daughter, kinda glad that he wouldn’t have to talk anymore and instead could focus on not getting robbed literally a few minutes before they’d have to show their tickets. Zayn talked to May for a lot longer than Niall would have thought and she had already hung up when she handed the phone back to him. Just in time for it to go off again.

“Yes?” Niall tried not to sound annoyed this time, but he kinda couldn’t help it. 

“Hi, are you already there?” Harry sounded equally as sleepy as Zayn just had for some reason and Niall really wondered whether the whole world had been asleep until now except for everyone attending this concert. 

“We just arrived. Thanks again for letting me have your parking spot and I promise I’m going to finish the Emails tom-“

“It’s fine, the clients know it could take up to a week until they get an answer, so there’s no rush. I was just calling to remind you about those shirts, you know, that my niece wants.” Right.

“I’m on it, I’m sure May is gonna rip my arm off once she sees the merch stands.” Niall spoke quietly, but then again, his daughter was well distracted by everything going on around them anyways. 

Harry ended the call again rather quickly, wishing them lots of fun and then Niall had to put his phone away anyways once they did find the T-shirts. The thing was, apparently they were different to the ones online and Niall had no idea why his 6 year old daughter who was only sometimes allowed to watch Youtube videos under Niall’s supervision would know about that, but whatever.

“So you don’t wanna wear it now?” Niall was slightly confused once they had made it to the queue they were supposed to be in and after they had found the bathrooms and waited there for ages as well. At least time was passing by a lot more quickly than Niall had feared.

“No, it’s not cool if I wear that on the picture.” Right. “I don’t want him to think I’m in love with him.”

“How old are you again?” Niall asked while laughing, making sure to somehow put the shirts back into his backpack, two because one was for Harry’s niece, not because Niall had gone insane. But he was close. 

“Six.” May told him all seriously, sounding a little confused as well. “Do you think he’s gonna pick me up?”

“I’m sure he will if you want to, babe.” She wasn’t very tall and really light, Niall sometimes still carried her as well and this Liam guy probably had 10 times more muscles than him. And it was kinda sad that Niall knew that. 

“… can you ask him?” The girl asked after a moment of hesitation, still holding Niall’s hand really tightly and he felt his heart getting a bit softer.

“If you want me to. Do you not want to ask him yourself?” Somehow Niall was a little frightened that she wouldn’t bring out a word and then be really sad over it once it was over, and he couldn’t make her talk to this singer after all, even if he knew she wanted to but was just too scared. She wasn’t shy though, maybe in certain situations, but it’s not like this Liam was a complete stranger. 

“I don’t know. I’m a bit nervous.” She admitted, leaning against Niall’s arm while squeezing his fingers and the man looked down at her for a moment before making himself smaller so he could properly look at her, brushing some hair out of her face and kissing her forehead.

“Why?” Niall had suspected that she was, but she had never told him explicitly in the past few months and also, her nerves were probably acting up because they were getting so close.

“I’ve never met him.” They had seen him in concert once, last year, but kinda far in the back because Niall had figured a 5 year old in a pit at a concert… not a good idea. “What if he’s not that nice?”

“I’m sure he’s going to be really nice, darling. You don’t have to be scared.” Even if he wasn’t nice deep down, Niall was 110% sure that this guy would be nice during the meet and greets after selling them for a fortune and especially to a little girl. “And I’m there with you, nothing can happen, yeah? I promise.”

May just nodded a bit, seemingly still unsure and Niall wasn’t too surprised when she let go of his hand in favor of wrapping her arms around his neck. Niall did stand up with her in his arms, carrying her while they were still queuing up and trying to make her feel more relaxed about this whole experience because they did have quite a lot of time for that. 

In the end, Niall wasn’t really sure if he had done a good job or not and it was stressing him out as well because he knew just how much his daughter wanted this, so he wanted her to only keep good memories of this day obviously, but it was also kind of out of his hands really. Maybe that was why he imagined all the many things he wanted to say to this singer, just in case he wouldn’t act exactly like May wanted him to, for these few seconds at least.

Luckily, Niall’s worst nightmares never became reality.

May got more nervous while they were waiting in line, but definitely less nervous after they had had to show their tickets and everything, so maybe she had been worried that this wasn’t actually real, that it was truly happening. Obviously they weren’t with the first few people, but rather somewhere in the middle towards the end of the queue, and there was a wall and everything so they couldn’t see Liam and Niall somehow felt nervous himself, but only for his daughter obviously.

“You can say whatever you want to him, okay? Whatever you wanna tell him.” Niall wanted to make sure she’d actually speak up because it was almost their turn and May was holding his hand so tightly it almost hurt. “He’s gonna do whatever you want for the picture.”

“Okay… “ She sounded unsure, but she was also moving around a lot, her nerves clearly acting up and Niall himself couldn’t actually remember the last time he had been this nervous either. He just wanted it all to go well because there was absolutely nothing he could have done in case it didn’t and as a parent, feeling this helpless was the worst thing ever.

They had given the letter May had written, not allowing Niall to read over it, to some lady collecting presents and Niall was honestly just glad that his daughter hadn’t even seemed to care that much about it anymore because of how far along they had moved in the line. Of course all the waiting wasn’t fun, but it also meant that at least everyone had more than just literally 2 seconds, and since they were two people, May should have double the time kinda, right?

“Alright, just wait here for one more moment please.” Some security guard told them as they waited for the last person in front of them to get done and Niall honestly kinda thought he was going to throw up. If Zayn could have seen him now, he would have been laughing his ass off. “Okay, you can go.”

It kinda went a little too fast for Niall if he was being honest, he just knew that for a moment he was scared May would just freeze upon actually seeing Liam and stuff, but that only seemed to last for a second or two. Thank god Liam was smiling and seemingly in the best mood of his entire life so Niall hadn’t paid this guy 400 pounds for nothing.

“Hi, there. Really nice to meet you, what’s your name, love?” He was only looking at May, smiling at her and making himself a bit smaller as they walked over.

“May.” She told him, a bit quietly and slightly shyly, but before Niall could have gotten worried, his daughter had already let go of his hand, instead not hesitating to stretch her arms out towards Liam, half running the last few steps.

Liam didn’t hesitate at all to get on her height and hug her back when she wrapped her arms around him and it even somehow looked like he was happy about it, so Niall was just standing there smiling like an idiot. Watching his 6 year old hug this 25 year old stranger. Casual.

“May, huh? That’s a really nice name. Can I pick you up?” Thank god he had asked that, so May wouldn’t have to and Niall wouldn’t have to remember doing it. 

She agreed immediately of course, although still quietly, and Liam easily stood up with her in his arms, holding her as if she weighed nothing at all. To be fair though, she wasn’t heavy and Niall was able to hold her as well, his arm just started aching after a while.

“And who’s this?” He asked May, referring to Niall before throwing a smile at him, stretching his free arm out towards him so they could shake hands. “Hi, I’m Liam, nice to meet you.”

“Hi. Niall.” Niall only shook his hand briefly, kinda surprised that he had felt the need to do that, but not in a negative way or anything. 

“That’s my daddy.” May told Liam, her arms still so tightly around Liam’s neck as if she never wanted to let him go. She probably didn’t, judging by the massive smile on her face that suddenly made it completely irrelevant to Niall however much he had paid for this very moment to happen. 

For just a second, he looked back at Niall, seemingly surprised, and Niall wasn’t blaming him. Also, the moment passed by quickly because they obviously had very limited time. “What do you wanna do for the picture, May? We can do whatever you want.”

“Ummm… I just want you to hold me.” She told him after the tiniest bit of hesitation, not looking at him though and Niall thought he could actually feel his heart melting a bit. Liam kinda looked like he felt the same. 

“You’re just the cutest, aren’t you?” He laughed briefly before getting ready to take the picture, making sure to point out the camera to May though. “Big smile, okay?”

When they were done, Niall knew that Liam would probably assume he’d want a picture too or something, but the other man made sure to stop that from happening and not steal any of May’s time away from Liam by turning to one of the security guards that looked like he was in charge. Maybe not, but everyone would still hear it anyways. “Can he just do two pictures with her alone instead?”

“Yeah, of course.” He agreed immediately luckily, and May’s smile increased, relief rushing through Niall. So far, everything was going perfectly.

“Alright, what else do you wanna do?” Liam asked her, still all smiles and super motivated, putting her down slowly when she asked him two and the fact alone that she was saying so much to him was truly a miracle somehow.

They took the second picture with Liam having to make himself quite small so they could hug a bit sideways and Niall thought his daughter’s cheeks must have been hurting from smiling so widely. Suddenly he felt bad for ever having had images of kicking that guy in his privates.

“Okay, love, thank you so much for meeting me. I hope you’re gonna have so much fun during the concert, yeah? Are you gonna sing along?” Liam asked when they were done, his security guard looking a bit impatient, but he wasn’t stepping in yet. “I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, I will.” May told him, nodding quite animatedly before suddenly stretching her arms out one more time and Liam hugged her again without waiting for her to say something. “I wrote you a letter, are you gonna read it?”

“Of course I will.” He told her after pulling back again, seemingly quite honest about it. Then again, even if he had wanted to, Niall wasn’t even sure if those letters and gifts were ever given to him.

“Pinky promise?” She asked, holding out her pinky and Liam was obviously surprised before he broke out into a smile again, linking his finger with hers for a second. 

“I promise.” When he slowly stood up, Niall made sure to step in, taking his daughter’s hand in his, a little scared that she might not leave too easily.

“Thank you so much.” He told Liam with all his sincerity, because he truly was thankful, he didn’t care if this guy was just playing nice and acting, even if he was, he was pretty darn good at it. 

“Thanks for meeting me. I hope you enjoy the show.” Liam answered, still with that smile on his face as he waved at May when Niall gently pulled her with him. “Bye, May.”

“Bye, I love you.” That did surprise Niall a whole lot, but he kept his face under control somehow. 

“I love you too, darling.” He replied without hesitation, probably making her even happier than with everything else he had just done before.

Almost as soon as they had been led out of the room and back to where they would be able to enter the main part of the arena to find their seats, May suddenly started to squeal and jump up and down, worrying Niall for a moment before he realized it was out of happiness and not sadness because it was over. 

“Was that so much better than you thought it would be?” He asked her with a grin spreading on his face, letting go of her hand in favor of picking her up while walking, her arms immediately making a choke hold around his neck. 

“Yes! He’s sooo amazing and he was so nice and did you hear, he said he loved me too!” Of course that was the most important part here and maybe Niall should have been a little concerned but he was just so happy that his daughter was this happy. 

“I did. He really was nice, huh?” More than that, he had kinda exceeded all explanations Niall had had, which didn’t just mean nothing.

“Thank you so much, daddy.” May told him after a moment, hugging him while Niall was still walking, having to look over her shoulder now, his throat suddenly feeling a little tight. 

“You’re so welcome, sweetheart.” Despite the ridiculous amount he had paid for this and the fact that a lot of other parents would have probably disagreed with this, his own included, Niall would have done it all over again because it was way worth seeing his daughter like this. And after all, she was Niall’s entire world, the only reason why he was working his ass off most days, so why wouldn’t he have given her what she had wanted most?

The little girl kept talking about Liam, all through the bathroom queue and then inside the venue after they had finally found their seats and Niall was afraid that at some point the big breakdown would come, but it didn’t. At least not before the concert actually started, which felt like 300 hours after the meet and greet or something.

Niall did know a lot of the lyrics obviously, not by his own choice, but… and he had to admit that Liam wasn’t all too bad on stage, like, they had seen him before, but that was a while in the past. It was undeniable that he was a good singer of course, his songs maybe slightly too sexual and explicit for kids like May, but she was having the time of her life, so Niall was willing to just ignore that. Along with Liam’s dancing on stage.

By the time it was all over, May was so exhausted that she fell asleep on Niall while he carried her all the way back to the car, his arms aching a bit, but it was alright, it was late after all and he was just looking forward to getting to bed. Today had gone so well, Niall could have saved himself those months of worrying over it if he had known.

“Can I sleep in your bed?” May was letting Niall do all the undressing and redressing in her pajamas once they had finally gotten home, just yawning into his face every five seconds. They could shower in the morning, Niall really didn’t have the nerves for that anymore.

“If you brush your teeth real good, okay?” Niall told her after finally getting her to properly lift her legs to finish dressing her before starting to take out her braids that she had insisted on today for the pictures. At least Niall had somewhat gotten good at those, but it had taken around 500 Youtube tutorials over the years to get on that level. “Alright, I’m looking on the clock, yeah?”

“Okay.” She sighed, but didn’t whine about being too tired to brush her teeth luckily, and she was always more excited to do it when Niall was brushing his as well, making it a little game sometimes just to motivate her a bit more. They hadn’t had any unpleasant dentist visits in a year, so it seemed to be working. “When can we see the pictures with Liam?”

“I don’t know, bug, probably next week. I’ll keep on checking, I promise.” They had gotten a link to the website where they’d be uploaded, but Niall had no idea when or whatever, he wasn’t really up to date with that. “Close your mouth, you’re gonna get toothpaste all over your pajamas.”

So they didn’t talk anymore while brushing their teeth and by the time Niall had finally managed to change into different clothes as well and tucked his daughter next to him into his own bed, it was so long after her bedtime that he didn’t even bother putting an alarm before 10 am. 

“I hope Liam is gonna read my letter.” She started again after Niall had leaned over her to kiss her goodnight, his arm half stretched out to turn off the lights, but then he didn’t. “He promised.”

“He’s probably really tired tonight.” Niall told her softly, brushing her hair out of her face. He knew she’d be talking about this letter for days, he hadn’t read it, but she had asked him to write down some stuff so she could copy it because she was only 6 after all, but he still wasn’t sure of the whole contents, if it even made sense. Then again… he doubted that it mattered. “Just like us.”

“Yeah… “ May had to yawn and Niall leaned down once more to kiss her head, yet again almost turning off the lights, but his arm froze once more when his daughter spoke up. “I put the bracelet in the envelope.”

“What?” Confused for just a second, Niall thought that this was unrelated to the topic, but before the girl could have even explained, it had already dawned on him. Right, this wasn’t good. “Oh. The one you made at school?”

“Yes. If he reads the letter he’s gonna wear it.” Okay, how come a 6 year old thought of putting a bracelet into that envelope so she could have proof that her favorite singer actually read her letter?! 

“I hope he will, baby… but, you know… even if there’s no picture of him with it on, it doesn’t mean he didn’t read it.” Fuck, Niall didn’t like this at all, the chances of this letter ever getting to Liam were pretty much ZERO, and obviously he wouldn’t NOT pinky promise a little fan that he would read it and just… she was gonna make Niall look up every single picture of Liam for the next few weeks, he just knew it. And she’d be so disappointed in the end. Amazing. “Or that he hasn’t worn it.”

“But I tried really hard when I made it.” That was true, she had shown it to Niall that day, all proud and stuff, and he should have known when he had tied it for her around her own wrist that there was a reason she had made it way too big for herself. Then again, he couldn’t have talked her out of it anyways. 

“I know, love… I really hope he’s gonna wear it. But even if he doesn’t, it doesn’t mean he didn’t read the letter, yeah? He promised after all and he was really nice today, right? And you had a lot of fun, didn’t you?” Niall was trying his hardest here to keep his daughter happy even though she looked really close to drifting off already anyways. But that wouldn’t help because it’s not like she would have forgotten in the morning. 

“Yeah… it was the best day ever.” She was smiling, so that was at least something and Niall tried to return it though he kinda didn’t feel like it anymore. 

“I’m glad to hear that. We should still try and sleep though, okay? It’s really late.” He kissed her goodnight one more time before finally turning off the lights, plunging them into almost complete darkness because he had turned on a light in the bathroom and made sure to leave the door open just a bit because May hated sleeping in darkness. Even when she was allowed to sleep in Niall’s bed. “Sweet dreams. I love you.”

“I love you too, daddy… “ Her voice already sounded heavy when she cuddled into him and Niall was pretty certain that she had fallen asleep seconds later while he himself lied awake for a bit longer, stroking her hair and thinking about how to find excuses for this singer so he wouldn’t break his daughter’s heart.

 

\----------------------

 

“I mean… I can’t say I understand your reasoning behind this, but… those are cute pictures.” Niall’s mother was still very vary when May had pretty much shoved her two pictures with Liam into her face seconds after they had arrived at Niall’s parents’ house.

The pictures had been uploaded just this morning and it was Tuesday now, and May had already shown off with them at school today, having made Niall print them out at 7 in the morning. Several copies of course.

“She loves him, what’s wrong with it? He was super nice.” Niall told his mother while his daughter was off searching for his father to show him the pictures as well. Lucky that she had so many. “His music is half bad.”

“It’s slightly inappropriate for her, but I’m already quiet again, no need to start another argument over this. I’m happy she enjoyed herself, I was worried it’d be a complete disaster when you first told me.” Well, she definitely hadn’t been the only one there. 

“It was nowhere near a disaster.” Niall rolled his eyes, kinda regretting showing up a bit earlier upon his mother’s request. Originally, he had just wanted to drop May off and then go to work, but now his mother was making him drink tea with her for half an hour. “She could be into a lot worse stuff. Like some annoying TV show for kids or whatever.”

“It’d be a lot cheaper for you though. And it’d probably contain a little less songs about sex.” God, would she ever let it drop?

“She’s gonna grow out of it eventually. She doesn’t even know what the songs mean and she knows she’s not allowed to sing any bad words.” Not that there were too many, but Niall really didn’t wanna get into this right now, it had been an ongoing conversation for the past two years now. But it had definitely reached its peak a while ago when Niall had made the mistake of letting May watch Liam’s Instagram story in his mother’s presence and needless to say… of course it had been an almost naked selfie. Tough luck. “Anyways, that’s a really good cake, have you ever made that before? I can’t remember.”

“I bought it, actually. Your father doesn’t like it, so you can take some of it with you if you want, maybe it’s gonna keep your new boss from firing you.” Another fun topic to discuss.

“I wasn’t fired from the restaurant, mom. It closed down because there were no customers, okay? I already told you a million times.” Still, Niall was a bit nervous about later because it was actually his first day at this job, but then again, it wasn’t like that was anything new. He currently had 3 other jobs as well, and that was probably the tenth in total or something, excluding summer jobs he had had as a teenager. “And I’m not sure if my new boss likes cake, I’ve never even met him.”

“Have you not met him when you had the interview?” Well…

“I mean… kinda. We did it over the phone.” Niall admitted after a moment, already knowing that his mother was going to freak out over it.

“What? How do you even know that is a legit job, Niall? You have a daughter, who knows who this man even is or what his intentions are. Where is that? What’s the address?” Right, Niall really needed to keep his mouth shut from now on.

“It’s legit, mom, you don’t have to worry, I promise. We did it over Facetime because he wasn’t in the city but he really needed someone who could start as soon as possible. It’s all good, I promise, I looked the place up and everything, but I can give you the address if that’s gonna make you feel better.” Not like she’d be able to do anything about it, Niall’s parents were still refusing to let him get them a computer and internet connection. Then again, maybe that was a good thing in some aspects.

“How long are you gonna be gone for?” Now she was really in the protective mode and Niall just sighed, finishing his cake and thinking about having a second piece because why not.

“Three hours. I’ll text you when I’m there and when I leave again.” At least he’d try to remember doing that. “Can you make sure May gets her homework done in the meantime?”

“Does she have any?” His mother was asking because there had been a time or ten where May had told them different stories regarding the existence of homework, so… 

“As far as I know she does. Just tell her I won’t allow her to get those pictures printed on a shirt for Christmas if she lies about it again.” Not that Niall would have actually followed through with that, and it’s not like May really lied, she had just… twisted the truth a little regarding some Maths problems.

“You’re not really letting her get them on a shirt, are you?” Niall’s mother sounded genuinely shocked and Niall wanted to kick himself in the face for even having brought it up. Then again, she would have seen the shirt anyways, so like… “Niall, I really think you should-“

“Can I have some cake too?!” May bolting into the room was kinda disrupting their conversation a little, but Niall had actually never been happier about it.

“Of course, love, c’mere.” He stretched his arms out towards her, lifting her onto his lap when she came over, still holding the second set of pictures in her hands. “Did you show grandpa the pictures? What’d he say?”

“He said they’re really pretty. And how lucky I am that I have two of them.” The girl carefully put them on the table in front of them and Niall could see his mother opening her mouth before closing it again luckily, instead opting for putting another piece of cake on Niall’s plate so May could have some as well. She hadn’t had an after school snack yet, so this was fine, right? 

For a few moments, it was just that, May eating and Niall and his mother watching her without continuing the conversation. Honestly, Niall thought that they were just done with it all now, so he kept glancing at the clock on the wall because he didn’t wanna be late for his first day. Not this time. 

“May, darling, can I ask you something?” Niall’s mother suddenly spoke up, right when May’s mouth was stuffed full of cake, but at least she had the decency to just nod after throwing a quick look at Niall, who thought about stopping his mother, but… she would be alone with his daughter for the next few hours anyways. “How much do you love this Liam?”

“A lot.” May told her after swallowing, not at all bothered by the question and Niall just rolled his eyes. 

“But don’t you think he’s a bit old for you?” Not this again.

“For what?” The girl asked back, clearly confused and Niall shook his head at his mother, but she ignored him, as usual. “He’s only a bit older than daddy.”

“I know, love, but your daddy is your daddy, right? And you don’t really know Lia-“

“I met him. He knows my name.” Fair enough. “You’re a whole lot older than him.”

“I… “ Niall’s mother started, clearly not having expected this boldness and Niall KNEW he should have scolded May, but instead he was busy pretending his brief laugh had been a cough. “That’s true. But I’m your grandma, so it’s different.”

“How?” Honestly, Niall’s mother really deserved the route this conversation had taken, she was clearly struggling to say what she wanted to say, so Niall took pity on her, just to get it over with.

“I think what granny is trying to say is, he’s too old for you to wanna marry him.” She didn’t, Niall knew that, but he also wanted his mother to hear it.

“But I don’t wanna marry him.” May actually sounded quite weirded out by the idea and Niall’s mother just looked surprised. “I just wish we could be friends. He’s really nice.”

“See, I told you.” Niall told his mother, feeling slightly relieved that his daughter hadn’t suddenly changed her mind after meeting him. “Anyways, I really gotta go now, I don’t wanna be late. You’re gonna be a good girl for granny and grandpa, right?”

“I always am.” The little girl replied, letting Niall cuddle her for a moment and giving her a kiss though without complaining before he lifted her up with him so he could get up as well. 

“I know, love, just thought I’d remind you. And do your homework, alright? I know you got some.” For a second, she looked like she was about to deny it, but then she just sighed and nodded again before eating some more cake while Niall walked around the table to half hug his mother. “Thanks for watching her, I’ll text you when I’m leaving.”

“And when you get there. And don’t forget the address!” She half yelled after him as Niall walked out of the kitchen to say goodbye to his dad as well, simply lifting his hand for a moment to show her that he heard her. He would send her the address if that’d make her happy, he just had no idea what she’d do with it anyways.

Niall left a bit too early, but he actually needed longer to get to the place than he had thought he would. Maybe taking this job had been a mistake, but then again, Niall hadn’t even signed anything yet, he had just stumbled over the job offer on Facebook, applied via Email and this guy had called him literally an hour later, sounding quite desperate. So yeah, Niall simply decided to see how it’d go today, but he did need the job kind of because the restaurant he had been working at had been paying kinda well because of all the tips. 

It didn’t look like much from the outside and Niall doubted that it was, it was just some recording studio and he didn’t even know if he had been speaking to the owner on the phone or not, so he also didn’t know what he should have expected when he rang the doorbell, 5 minutes too early.

Whoever was inside simply unlocked the door for Niall to enter so he did, not thinking much at all because this was clearly legit, there even was a sign next to the door and everything, so… his mother had just made him kinda paranoid before. 

“Hi, you must be Niall, right?” The guy who greeted him once Niall had stepped inside was the same one who had done the phone interview with him although he kinda acted as if he couldn’t remember clearly. “I was kinda in a rush when we talked on the phone, sorry. Niall…. Horan?”

“Yeah, that’s right. And you’re Louis Tomlinson?” Niall knew, but he just didn’t know what else to say because this man was kinda throwing him off track a little.

“I am, just call me Louis. And I’m also the only name you have to remember because you and me are the only people who work here.” Okay, should Niall have been… concerned? “I’m really glad you applied for the job, you were the only one who didn’t look like a total creep.”

“I’m glad.” Also, was that the only reason why he had gotten the job? Niall had already kinda wondered about that. 

“Yeah… well, there were only 3 others, so.” Louis shrugged, letting out a forced laugh that sounded a bit weird and Niall only now noticed that they hadn’t even shaken hands. Then again, did it really matter? “I’ll give you a quick tour and then we can talk about everything else.”

“Sounds good.” The place actually looked tiny, so Niall didn’t expect it to last very long. He was just slightly concerned that this man obviously hadn’t bothered to remember anything about him, so hopefully he wouldn’t suddenly realize just how unfit Niall was for the position or that he had been looking for… more. 

As expected, the ‘tour’ didn’t take longer than a few minutes and this Louis tried cracking jokes the entire time, answering some phone call that didn’t sound very professional before simply making Niall sit on a couch in the corner of the recording room while he himself sat in the spinning chair. Maybe Niall’s mother had been right to be concerned. 

“Okay, so, I have to admit I kinda forgot how much I told you over the phone because I was in a rush and this assh- the guy before you quit without notice, so I’ll just give you a quick rundown again. Your pay depends on how many bookings we have and your working hours are flexible, I could technically run this place on my own because people aren’t exactly… they aren’t exactly queuing to get in here.” At this point, he let out another laugh that sounded kinda dark though and Niall tried to relax his face. “But having a second person here helps out immensely. I know you don’t really have a lot of experience… or do you?”

“Not really, I used to work in a recording studio before, but they never let me do anything, I just know what I picked up from watching. I studied one semester of music engineering. And I play guitar, but that’s about it.” Niall was interested in music, but he had no qualifications, that was the bottom line here. Usually he would have tried to make himself sound a bit better, but Louis had already given him the job.

“Right, I remember. That’s no problem, you’re just gonna learn from me and… I can also need you to do other things as well. And time wise, like… you got another job, right?” About that…

“Um, yeah. But it also has flexible working hours, so that won’t be a problem.” Not a lie, although there was more than just one other job, Niall just didn’t feel like getting into it because he doubted Louis actually cared. Would he even officially employ him? Or just kinda… give him the money? Not that Niall cared, he had legit contracts for his other jobs, he just needed the money. 

“Okay, great. So you could basically be on call whenever?” Well…

“I have a 6 year old daughter, she comes first, but other than that… yeah.” Pretty sure Niall had already told him that twice, but… 

“Just bring her in, it’s no trouble. Actually, you’d be surprised how many clients bring their kids… or their dogs. One even brought his bird once.” Was this man okay? 

“… I-“

“Anyways, sorry for rushing this so much, but these kids are gonna show up any moment. They’re god awful singers and they can’t play instruments to save their life, but their parents keep paying for them to have sessions, so as far as you’re concerned, they’re gonna be freaking popstars soon, okay?” So that was it then, did that mean Niall had the job for sure?

“I’m gonna, uh, try my best.” Niall quickly promised, kinda wanting to ask a few more questions, but he never got the chance to because the doorbell rang again and Louis had jumped out of the chair within two seconds.

Hadn’t all of this been kinda weird, Niall would have thought it was the perfect job to have. Then again, he was slightly afraid of what would happen if there were rarely any bookings because that’d automatically mean no money for him, and… the last guy HAD apparently quit with no notice, so there must have been a reason for that. If he had done it though, Niall could have done the same and it was at least worth a try.

Louis was being overly enthusiastic with this teenage band, pretending to be all cool and whatnot, as if he was their age, and Niall found it to be really cringey, but these kids seemed to buy it so whatever. Niall didn’t really do anything besides watching Louis, and listening to his rants about how awful the band was whenever they couldn’t hear him. He did explain some stuff to Niall though, and sometime in between he mentioned that Niall shouldn’t be worried because he’d pay him for today as well even though it was just kind of to get to know him. Not like Niall had come here expecting any less but… at least he wasn’t getting disappointed, right?

“So you own this studio?” Niall asked after a while, Louis giving a fake thumbs up to the singer of the band through the glass before looking at Niall, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

“Yeah, I only opened it a couple months ago and I already had to replace the only guy I ever hired. Kinda pathetic, huh?” He was also lucky Niall needed this job, because he was pretty sure a lot of other people would have already run away at this point. 

“So… it’s not going well?” The only question Niall truly cared about and Louis probably noticed because he let out a laugh, seemingly unbothered though. 

“It’s going alright. The guy before you just didn’t have any patience and his expectations were way too high. He also said he had bills to pay and better places to be, so… part of why I called you immediately was because your CV had so many jobs on, I thought perfect, this guy may leave again quickly but at least he doesn’t think he’s gonna get rich.” To be fair… that was kind of Niall’s outlook with every job. “Where else do you currently work? If that’s not too personal or anything… “

“It’s not. I mainly drive for a taxi company, like that’s what I spend most of my time doing, but I also teach guitar lessons at a high school where one of my friends works and another friend of mine works at a law firm and me and him kinda run this website for a few of the lawyers there, like, I write a lot of Emails to their clients to make appointments and stuff and he does other things… that require a degree.” Not that interesting really, so Niall just shrugged, trying not to cringe at the voice of this 15 year old singing in the background. 

“Sounds exhausting.” Louis answered after a moment and Niall simply nodded because it was, but it was also necessary. “At least I won’t have to be worried your kid is gonna starve if we don’t book anyone.”

“My parents would fight me in court before that happens, no worries.” Letting out a humorless laugh, Niall suddenly remembered that this was supposed to be a professional work setting and that it was his very first day, but… it really didn’t feel like it at all. “How long can you keep this studio running in case things go bad?”

“A while, I’ve been saving and planning for years. I’ve been a writer for a music magazine since 6 years so that’s helped me a lot getting into the business and stuff, still does. And- one second, I don’t wanna go deaf.” He interrupted himself before simply turning down the volume even more until they could barely hear these kids anymore, which was kinda rude and unprofessional but like… “Don’t worry, their parents know they will never make it big.”

“Kinda sad though.” Also, it didn’t make Louis look that good, but then again, did it matter what Niall thought in the end? No one else was here. 

“They’ll get over it. They can play those records to their kids in 30 years and laugh about it.” Louis then hesitated for a moment and Niall didn’t really get it until he spoke again, sounding a bit apologetic for some reason. “Not that… not that they’ll only have kids in 30 years. Maybe sooner, I don’t know, I just said a random number. I’m not like… judging.”

It took Niall yet another second to get what Louis was going on about, pretending to mess around with the buttons for a second while the other man almost wanted to laugh about how ridiculous all this was getting. As if they were old friends or something. “I’m not offended, don’t worry. I didn’t plan on having a child at 18, but it happened, so… I wouldn’t change it even if I could. She’s my entire world.”

“… you’re only 24?” Was everything Louis said after having taken some time to obviously do the math in his head.

“Did you read my CV?” Niall joked, he wouldn’t have usually talked like this to his boss of course, but this whole thing wasn’t a very professional setting and it felt more like Louis had just needed a buddy to hang out with if he was being honest. If he’d pay him for it though… Niall was more than willing to play along.

“Skipped over it. I was a bit desperate.” He admitted, laughing it off though as if it had been a joke, but they both knew that wasn’t true. “So… there’s no mother?”

“Um, no.” Almost immediately, Niall could feel his face freezing a bit, his posture become stiff without him even wanting it too. It just wasn’t his favorite topic. “It’s… it’s a long story.”

“Right. Sorry.” Louis apologized immediately before clearing his throat quite noisily, waiting another moment before leaning forward to press a button so he could interrupt the teenage boys, telling them to start again and giving them a few tips that weren’t so well received. Or actually taken serious.

There was one more booking after this was over and Louis did act a whole lot more professional with this one, skipping the small talk and the personal questions this time, which was a relief. Then again, Niall kinda also didn’t mind because it could have been way worse and he could quit anytime he wanted to, so whatever. 

“I’ll text you as soon as something comes in, alright? Maybe we could also put your phone number on the website? We just gotta make sure we both know the schedule and stuff. We’ll figure it out, I’ll let you know.” Louis sounded very positive while locking up the place after they had walked outside together. “If anything comes up that’s fine too, we both got other jobs. And you kinda got 4 more so… “

“Three.” Niall corrected him without thinking, but he was surprised.

“I’d say being a single dad probably counts as the most difficult job out of all of those though.” Oh. “See you soon? Hopefully this week.”

“Yeah. And thanks again for… the opportunity.” What else would Niall have said, really? At least Louis found it funny.

“You’re welcome. Thanks for applying to the sketchiest job offer ever.” That was… kinda true. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” Niall waved briefly before walking into the other direction and back to his car, briefly remembering to text his mother that he was leaving now, ignoring the 15 messages she had sent him in the meantime. 

 

\--------------------

 

Niall did see Louis again by the end of the week, and another time a week later and he was more than busy with everything else in his life in the meantime, so he wasn’t too unhappy that this new job wasn’t taking up too much time. Just something on the side to get a bit more money in and make it slightly easier whenever May was begging to get something at the store.

Especially now that it was getting closer to Christmas and all that, money was usually something Niall worried about this time of year.

“I don’t wanna put on that coat, it’s scratchy.” May complained when Niall was holding it open for her, suppressing a sigh.

“You’ve got a jumper on underneath, you won’t even feel if it’s scratchy or not. C’mon, we gotta go.” They were already slightly behind schedule, but when were they not?

“I can feel it on my hands.” The little girl told him after a moment of hesitation, still not sliding her arms into the sleeves even when Niall came a bit closer.

“Gloves.” Was all he said, trying not to get annoyed.

“… and on my face.” That was probably true.

“Santa will get you a new coat. But only if you earn it by wearing this one until then.” He shook the coat a bit until his daughter gave in, looking way older than her age as she rolled her eyes and Niall tried not to laugh so he wouldn’t encourage her. “No eye rolling, May, we talked about this.”

“Sorry… “ She mumbled, allowing Niall to zip up the coat though and putting gloves on each of her hands before taking one of them into his and slinging her schoolbag over his shoulder.

He didn’t usually go inside the school to pick her up, but he had wanted to speed up the process a little, not having considered that all her classmates would be there too wanting to talk and whatnot, but they did make it outside a bit earlier than they usually would have. 

The reason they were walking was because there was no way Niall would have found a parking spot in the city center, so they took the train and the tube instead, which May absolutely loved, so the coat fiasco was forgotten very quickly. It took them a while to get to where they needed to go because they lived outside the city a bit, but because of all the traffic, the car would have still taken a lot longer.

“Alright, we need presents for all your grandparents, so if you see anything you wanna get them, tell me, okay?” It was kinda Niall’s job to get them something, but he usually used the excuse of having let May pick because then no one would dare to be disappointed. Also… getting her other grandparents presents wasn’t really his cup of tea, he just did it for May, to let her believe they actually got along. Or talked beyond hello and goodbye. 

“I wanna get them this.” May told him literally five seconds inside the mall, pointing to a giant nutcracker bigger than her. This was gonna be hard.

“Maybe a bit smaller, yeah?” And a bit cheaper.

There was still time until Christmas, but Niall needed to use his free days wisely and get things done as soon as possible, also because he had to buy May’s presents as well without her being there, so… he always started a lot sooner than probably a lot of people. As always though, it wasn’t easy and Niall kept thinking about so many more people he had to get presents for, and then also things they needed themselves and when two hours had passed by, he had barely even noticed.

“Daddy, look!” May squealed while Niall was busy thinking about whether to get Harry yet another book this year. He always read them though, even if they were shit.

“Baby, I know they’re pretty coats, but you gotta let Santa decide, okay?” Niall told her without looking, and then there was some announcement over the speaker and there was music and he was lost in thoughts comparing those books and when he looked down, his daughter was gone. “May?”

Trying to stay calm even though he could feel the panic rising in his chest, Niall spun around searching for her, feeling sick to his stomach already. This was his worst nightmare, losing her somewhere, somebody taking her or even worse. Fuck, Niall should have paid more attention, should have held her hand and-

“… where’s your mom?” Wait… 

Niall didn’t know the voice asking, but obviously it made him listen up immediately and he walked around a shelf just in time to not only see his daughter standing there, but also to hear her answer. “My mommy is dead.”

“I… w-“

“May!” Niall didn’t even look at whoever was talking to his daughter, he didn’t care, about anything at all other than that he had found her. Thank fucking god. “What are you doing?! You can’t just run away from me, you know that!”

“But daddy-“

“No! There’s no _but’s_ , you know you have to stay with me, I was so worried! And you don’t go around telling strangers those things. Come on now.” There were tears building up in her eyes now after she had shut her mouth and Niall did feel bad as he grabbed her hand a bit roughly, but he had been so panicked for a moment, he had truly thought something had happened.

“But… it’s not a stranger.” She half whispered, sniffing a bit, and it was only really when Niall finally looked up to apologize that it slowly sunk in.

“I’m so sorry, I- oh.” Had Niall not looked at this man’s face on pictures and in videos so many damn times, he would have never recognized him in public, or what appeared to be his girlfriend or sister or whoever, but there was no doubt that it was Liam Payne. Well… a small world. “I’m really sorry that she bothered you, I should have paid more attention.”

“No problem, I was just worried she got lost, she wasn’t bothering me. You gotta listen to your dad, okay, May?” His voice was really soft when he spoke to her, a smile on his face and Niall couldn’t help but be impressed for just a moment before getting it together.

“Okay.” She answered immediately, about to say something else, so Niall quickly made sure to interrupt.

“Alright, let’s go, come on.” He already felt bad enough for all this, and he was still worked up and mad at himself for even having let it happen.

“You still gotta read my letter. You pinky promised.” May still said it anyways while being half pulled away by Niall, adding to his embarrassment. She was a child though, surely no one was mad over it.

“I’ll read it.” Liam told her, and it was the last thing Niall heard him say though he did throw another look back to see him and the woman with him smiling at May before talking to each other, so Niall made sure to pick his daughter up instead and walk away as quickly as possible.

“Are you staring at him?” Niall asked when he noticed May looking over his shoulder as he carried her. “Don’t look at him.”

“Why? He’s right t-“

“It’s not nice to stare. And it’s even less nice to run away from me when you know you’re not supposed to do that.” They had finally gotten to another store, one that Niall had picked randomly just to get out of sight. “What if I hadn’t found you, huh? I was really worried.”

“I’m sorry, daddy… “ She mumbled, looking quite sad when Niall put her down slowly, getting down as well so they could be on eye level. “But Liam-“

“That’s no excuse, May. And you can’t just go over and talk to somebody you don’t know, okay?” Well, she did technically know him, but what parent gave their child a lecture on what to do if they saw their favorite singer in public?! “I know you met him and I know you love him, but he still counts as stranger.”

“Okay… I’m sorry.” It was hard to stay mad when she was sniffing and apologizing and looking at Niall with those big eyes. “I won’t do it again. Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad, I was just scared… come here.” Niall pulled her into a hug, kissing the side of her head a few times as he closed his eyes while just holding her close. This could have ended literally so much worse and Niall was still relieved, but he was also still worried. “Why did you tell him that? About your mom?”

“He asked… and it’s true.” May answered so Niall decided to let it drop, holding her for another few moments before letting go.

“Okay. I love you, and I’m sorry I yelled at you, I just don’t want anything to happen to you and I thought I had lost you for a moment. So next time you see something or someone or whatever, you wait until I know where you’re going, okay? And you don’t go by yourself or without me saying it’s okay to go.” Just so she’d know he wasn’t mad at her, but he also wanted her to know she could never do this again. “Promise me.”

“Okay. I promise.” She did hold out her pinky after a second and Niall felt his heart aching a bit when he linked it with his. “I love you too, daddy.”

They did continue shopping rather normally after this incident, but Niall could tell that May was just holding back because she was afraid he’d get upset again. After hours had passed though and once they were back home, obviously May went on and on about meeting Liam, about the letter and whether she could tell her friends and the bracelet and whatnot and for the first time ever, Niall kinda agreed with his mother’s opinions on the matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :D
> 
> Happy new year to all of you!!! i hope you enjoyed the holidays & i wish every single one of you that this year will be one of the best yet! <3
> 
> i decided i couldnt wait any longer to start writing this story or to not write in general, so here we go again! i hope you enjoyed the first chapter & i REALLY mean it this time when i say this fic wont be super long, like i REALLY mean it :p
> 
> let me know all your thoughts, i would love to hear them, have a lovely week <33


	2. Chapter 2

A week passed by since the incident at the mall and May was still going on about it and Niall was pretty sure she had told that story at least three times to everyone that she knew. And twenty more times to Niall, even though he had literally been there as well and not a lot had happened, plus, he had actually been upset with her over it. Or himself, more like, because ever since then, he definitely always thought twice about letting go of her hand.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna go out tonight? I’m sure you’d still find a babysitter. Doesn’t Harry always stay home anyways?” Zayn wasn’t being the nicest about it, but it was kinda true, anyways. “It’d be fun, you never go out.”

“I have a child.” Niall reminded his friend while still cutting onions even though he had been meaning to do that for an hour now and May had been complaining about being hungry at least three times. It was Friday night, and Niall was just glad he had managed to switch his taxi shift tonight because he hated nothing more than driving through the night and picking May up at 6 am from his parents’ house. “’sides, I don’t know why you and Harry don’t get along, you barely even know each other and just because he has different views on some things doesn’t mean you can’t talk to him.”

“On a _lot_ of things. And we do get along, on the rare occasions we see each other. Remember your birthday? We talked for like 10 minutes.” Zayn said it as if it was an accomplishment, as if he wanted a pet on the back for that or something and Niall just rolled his eyes to himself. It had been like that for years, ever since he had thought it’d be a good idea to introduce them, but needless to say… it hadn’t been. “Anyways, so you’re really not coming?”

“I’m really not coming.” Niall confirmed, his eyes starting to tear up from the onions but he tried to power through it and just be a bit quicker. He had Zayn on speaker, so at least he had both hands free. “One day your students are gonna be old enough to go to the same clubs as you and then you’re gonna stop going out as well.”

“They know they can’t talk to me outside school, I made that pretty clear when one of them came up to me at the grocery store to ask for extra work. What’s with these kids anyways? Extra work… who does that?” To be fair, Niall surely hadn’t when he had still been in school. “Also-“

“Daddy, can I watch something on your laptop?” May interrupted Zayn when she came into the kitchen, already in her pajamas although Niall had never told her to change. At least one thing he wouldn’t have to worry about tonight. 

“Did you do your homework?” Niall asked back, throwing a quick glance at the clock. Well, dinner would be late again. 

“You helped me with it before.” The little girl told him, seemingly confused and Niall remembered, feeling slightly stupid all of a sudden. “Can I taste it?”

“It’s raw onions, love, I’ll tell you when you can taste something, okay?” Zayn was laughing through the phone but Niall ignored him, because what did he know? “What do you wanna watch on my laptop?”

“Liam’s music videos?” Right, why had Niall even bothered?

“Even I could have told you that.” Zayn threw in, as if he was here right now and somehow part of the conversation, and he kinda was to be fair. 

“Please, Daddy?” May ignored Zayn, unexpectedly coming over to hug Niall a bit awkwardly because of how small she was. “I can set the table.”

“Okay, alright. But bring the laptop in here.” He quickly added when his daughter had already started squealing in delight. 

“Okay!” There wasn’t much to set on the table because they were only two people anyways, but Niall still let her do it because he knew she liked to help, even though she dropped things quite a lot. Luckily never his laptop though.

“Just admit it, you wanna watch them too.” Zayn joked while May was busy looking for forks.

“Totally.” Niall rolled his eyes, quickly washing his hands after finally finishing with those onions and putting them in a pan. 

“Did he already wear the br-“

“Where are you going to tonight?” Niall was super quick to interrupt when Zayn started talking, seemingly without thinking and luckily May was already walking out of the kitchen again so she didn’t notice. God, this damn bracelet was going to follow Niall to his grave. 

“Oh, sorry, I forgot.” The other man quickly apologized, luckily not bringing it up anymore and instead switching the topic to something less dangerous.

Niall kept talking to Zayn on the phone while cooking, interrupting only when May emerged with his laptop so he could make sure she was actually only watching Liam’s music videos, popping in some headphones for her because he wasn’t too keen on being part of that experience. And neither was Zayn, probably.

After they had eaten dinner, May helped Niall clean up the kitchen as best as she could and by the time they were finished with everything, it was around 6.30 in the evening, but it was a Friday night, so Niall let himself be talked into making some popcorn and streaming some film from his laptop. Honestly though, he really enjoyed those nights, when May didn’t have school the next day and he’d only have to be at work a little later because the week had been stressful as always and it never felt like Niall had spent enough time with his daughter.

“Are you tired?” May asked when Niall couldn’t suppress another yawn, already having slipped down so much on the couch that he was actually lying down. 

“Yeah, but don’t worry, bug, I promise I’m gonna stay awake.” At least until the film was finished, then Niall would be bringing her to bed as soon as the credits were rolling just so he could catch up on some sleep as well. The last time he had gone to bed after 10 pm by choice was probably years in the past by now. “Are you eating all the popcorn?”

“You made it for me, you said you don’t like it.” The girl argued while putting another handful into her mouth, the bowl having ended up in her lap after probably 3 minutes.

“Give me some.” Niall made her laugh by simply stretching out his arm without actually sitting up properly, keeping his hand open for her and pretending to be shocked when she only put one single popcorn onto his palm. “That is all I’m getting?!”

“You don’t like it!” May giggled, squealing when Niall tickled her side after eating that popcorn, pulling her closer when she tried to get away from him a bit. 

“It’s just not my favorite, I’ll still eat it though.” To be fair, Niall truly did not enjoy popcorn that much, but he ate a handful just to pull a fake disgusted face and make his daughter laugh again. “Best I ever had.”

“No, it’s not.” The little girl giggled, still trying to keep the bowl away from him though, holding onto his hand when he tried to grab more. “It’s burned.”

“And yet you still don’t wanna give me any.” It wasn’t THAT burned, Niall had thrown away the darker bits of course even though May had told him not to. “You just love your popcorn that much, huh? That you don’t even wanna share with your own dad?”

“… you can have two more.” May decided after a moment and Niall would have rolled out his old sharing is caring lecture, but this was just fun and giggles and she DID love popcorn a lot. Plus, when the film got a bit more exciting a few minutes later, May had long stopped caring about how much Niall was eating anyways.

Because it was a kids’ film it wasn’t long or anything, but Niall still had some troubles staying awake during it and he could feel himself drifting off a few times only to jerk awake again when May commented something or moved next to him. She ended up cuddling into him and wiping her greasy popcorn hands all over Niall’s shirt, but it was too late to stop her by the time he noticed. Saturday would be a laundry day anyways.

“Daddy?” May asked after a while, when the film was coming to an end and Niall’s eyelids had gotten so heavy he actually kept them closed for a bit longer even while answering.

“Hm?” Niall didn’t even know what was happening on the TV right now although the plot was simple and they had probably seen the film already, he was just too exhausted.

“Are you ever gonna marry someone?” That question wasn’t coming out of nowhere or anything, but it was still enough to make Niall blink his eyes open. Why were all these kids’ films about marrying and relationships anyways?

“I don’t know, love, maybe. I don’t know anyone I’d wanna marry right now.” Niall made himself sit up a bit straighter so he’d have an easier time to stay awake, playing with his daughter’s hair for a moment only to realize he hadn’t taken all of her hair clips out yet and they had gotten all tangled up. At least he had something to do now for the next few minutes. “Wait, don’t move your head.”

“It hurts.” She complained when Niall accidentally pulled on a strand of hair, but she did keep still when he told her to. “Can I wear a dress like that when you get married?”

“You can wear anything you want.” Niall told her without checking the screen because he was honestly scared what he’d see if he did. “Might take a few years though.”

“How many?” May asked, moving again so Niall quickly let go of her hair so he wouldn’t hurt her again. Damn, why had he put so many damn hair clips into her hair this morning?! He truly knew how to make his own life harder.

“I don’t know. I’ll let you know when I know so we can find a dress in time, deal?” Honestly, Niall doubted he’d ever get married, he hadn’t dated anyone in… well, he had never really dated anyone, not seriously enough to call it that at least. He had been in relationships when he had been a teenager, but they hadn’t been very long lived and not very serious and then obviously he had had May since he was 18 and his priorities had quickly shifted elsewhere. Not that he minded because… when in god’s name would he have had the time to date someone?

“Okay… what if I don’t like the girl you’re marrying?” Now that did make Niall stop for a second.

“I wouldn’t ever marry someone you don’t like. I love you the most and that’s never gonna change, you know that, May. And I’d always want you to come and tell me if you don’t like someone I’m hanging out with, okay? Promise me?” This was really important to Niall because he was really hesitant about introducing his daughter to his friends, like, obviously she knew Harry since day one because Niall had known him since 14 years, but when he had met Zayn, it had taken him months to let him come over. He had babysat a few times though, so that was already kinda long in the past as well by now, but other people Niall knew… a lot of them had only ever met May once or twice.

“I promise.” May told him all seriously, seemingly relieved though after what Niall had told her.

“Thank you.” There was one more thing though, and Niall waited a moment to bring it up, still busy untangling her hair. “Maybe I’m gonna marry a boy though.”

“That’s better.” They had talked about these things before of course, but that still made Niall laugh for a second.

“Why is that better?” Surely, she was the only one in the family who thought that way.

“Then I’m the only girl.” She explained, as if it was obvious, and it kinda was if Niall was being honest with himself. “And I don’t know what it’s like to have a mummy but I like having you as my daddy and then I could have two daddies.”

“I… “ Niall started, suddenly feeling his throat tightening up a bit, from happiness though because the way she was saying it made it sound as if it’d be great to have Niall twice kind of… right? “I love you so much, you know that, right?”

“Yeah?” May sounded confused as she turned her head because Niall had let his hands drop from her hair, not finding any more hair clips. “I love you too.”

“I know. C’mere.” Though she probably didn’t know why Niall was suddenly getting emotional, she immediately cuddled into him again when he opened his arms a bit to hug her close, pressing his face against the top of her head because her hair was already a freaking mess anyways, thanks to him. “I promise if I ever marry anyone, that person has to be the best mommy or daddy to you ever, I’ll make sure of that.”

“But you’re the best daddy.” Did she WANT to make Niall cry?! 

“Second best then.” Niall half laughed though it came out slightly breathless because he was trying real hard here to not break out into tears here. “Whatever happens though, you’re the most important thing to me, okay? Always.”

“Okay… you too, daddy. Even if I get married one day.” She promised and Niall just laughed again, squeezing her a bit tighter before pressing a kiss against her forehead as he leaned back slowly. 

“I’ll buy you the most beautiful dress if you do. Unless you don’t wanna wear one anymore by then, that’s fine as well, you can wear whatever.” Niall quickly added the last part though he had only said it because she had mentioned it before.

“I wanna wear a dress though. A blue one. With gold. And pink. And purple. Or maybe rainbow… or maybe not.” She kept on fantasizing about it while the credits were rolling and Niall playfully gave his opinion once a while, kind of not tired anymore and not caring anymore how much past her bedtime it was at this point. It was Saturday tomorrow anyways, they deserved to be awake for a bit longer, right?

May did end up sleeping in Niall’s bed like she did a lot on the weekends to be honest, but it was all good even though Niall’s mother sometimes told him he needed to stop letting her do that even though he KNEW it wasn’t like, damaging her independence or something. No matter how many times he talked it through with her though, his mother’s opinions rarely ever changed. 

That’s why he really wouldn’t have wanted to know what she would have said if she knew what woke him up during the night.

Actually, it was because Niall had had too much water before going to bed that he had to get up to go to the bathroom, so naturally he checked his phone for the time when he came back, and he had never felt more awake. 

Zayn had texted him like… a BILLION times or something, Niall couldn’t remember because he also didn’t really care, all he cared about was the video his friend had sent him, of someone more than familiar to Niall. Liam Payne.

Niall couldn’t click it immediately because May was sleeping soundly next to him, he had to quietly search for his headphones first though he already knew what to expect before pressing play because Zayn had already told him, in capital letters and poor grammar because he was clearly very, very wasted. And he wasn’t the only one.

The video was kinda dark and there were flashes of lights from inside the club and there was music and the whole conversation was just shouted, but the camera was pointed at Liam the whole time, and he didn’t even seem to care one bit. The drink in his hand probably helped a lot with that.

“Hey, aren’t you that singer?!” Zayn was shouting somewhere in the background in the very beginning, so loudly that Niall’s ear almost fell off. God, this was so fucking embarrassing. “My friend’s daughter loves you!”

“What?” Liam was so wasted, Niall wondered if this was a normal thing for him to do, or what kinda club this was and also… what the hell? Why was Zayn suddenly partying with celebrities?

“Can you say hi to my friend’s daughter?” Zayn simply switched the whole topic, never asking Liam to confirm who he was again, but he was screaming even louder now. Fucking hell, why?

“What’s her name?” Liam half yelled back, laughing when somebody bumped into him on accident, almost spilling his drink onto Zayn’s phone from the looks of it. 

“May.” The other man replied, of course still screaming and Niall kinda wanted to die from embarrassment. How was any of this really happening?

“Hi, May! Sorry you can’t be here right now!” Great.

“She’s six!” Zayn yelled back, laughing really loudly in the background.

“Oh, shit… fuck- Sorry!” Liam apologized though he was laughing as well, waving awkwardly into the camera and then the video was over and Niall just sat there, not knowing what to do now. Like… this was just crazy on a whole other level.

Zayn’s messages were really hard to read and this must have all happened 2 hours ago because it was 4 in the morning now and he had stopped texting Niall shortly after 2. He had written things like “Tell May she’s picked the right celebrity, that bloke is a legend” and “Guess who just bought me & all my friends drinks” and also “This Liam dude is so drunk he’d give me his number right now if I asked, do you want it?”, obviously not this grammatically correct, but… yeah.

Right, so there was no way Niall could explain this to May, like, what was happening in the video or why Liam was behaving, well… _drunk_ , but also… he couldn’t keep it from her either, could he? Zayn had made the video for her, and then he had apparently gone even further and Niall didn’t even wanna know how this night had ended for his friend. Or for Liam.

If he really had been this smashed, and gone out to a club, more people must have seen him behaving this way, maybe even giving out his number to random people and like… Niall would have known if Liam had had a scandal like that before, because he was way too informed about him. And it’s not that he was like, worried or whatever, it’s just… this was weird as heck. And because of Zayn, Niall somehow felt like he had gotten involved and like, luckily he wasn’t some idiot who would post that video online or anything, but… who knew who else Liam had done video messages for.

This was such a mess.

 

\------------------

 

“Daddy, wake up!” May was half yelling into Niall’s ear though it felt like he had literally only been asleep for 0.1 seconds. He immediately jerked awake though, thinking something terrible had happened.

“Wh- Are you okay?!” Niall’s eyes were hurting as he sat up too quickly, his head feeling quite dizzy as he tried to re-orient himself. “Did something happen?”

“No, but your alarm is going off.” Oh.

“Right, yeah, ummm… “ Still sleepy and confused as hell, Niall was just relieved that everything seemed to be good as he searched for his phone between the sheets to turn off the alarm and check the time. Thank god it had literally been his very first alarm of like… 10. “How long have you been awake for?”

“A while.” May shrugged, she had already brought like 10 stuffed animals into the bed, probably to play with while Niall had still been sleeping, so at least she had waited for his alarm to go off before she had woken him. “I’m hungry, can we eat breakfast?”

“Just give me a moment, ‘kay?” Niall had lied back down, just letting his eyes fall closed one more time, his heart still bumping uncomfortably fast because of the short panic from before. “Did you sleep good?”

“Yeah, I like your bed a lot better than mine.” She had told Niall that probably a hundred times, and he knew it was kind of a lie but also, he knew she slept better when she wasn’t alone, so it was true in her mind anyways. 

“But you got way nicer sheets than me.” He tried, turning his head and blinking his eyes open once more though he could have literally fallen back asleep again in half a second or something. And then suddenly, he remembered what had kept him awake for an hour during the night and there was no way he could tell his daughter before talking to Zayn, who was probably still gonna be asleep for another 5 hours. Great. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Hmm… can I have cereal?” May put on her puppy eyes for Niall and just because he already felt guilty because of that damned video, he gave in immediately.

Niall had already texted Zayn last night to call him immediately when he woke up, but he refrained from looking up any information about Liam on the internet right now because he didn’t even wanna know. Luckily his mother had no internet and couldn’t keep up with any of that gossip because she’d kill Niall if she knew he was allowing May to be a fan of some guy who got this smashed at random clubs with complete strangers.

May took some stuffed animals to the kitchen, playing with them around Niall on the floor and on the counter while he was making breakfast. Which didn’t take a whole lot of time thanks to his daughter’s simple request, so luckily he also didn’t have to pay too much attention and could stay lost in thought for a few more moments.

“Did you put all your dirty clothes in the laundry basket?” Niall knew she hadn’t, so that’s exactly why he asked as soon as they had sat down to have breakfast, May’s stuffed animals lined up on the table as well so she could pretend to be feeding them too. “The ones lying all over your floor?”

“Umm… not yet.” May answered after some hesitation, quickly putting a spoonful of lucky charms into her mouth.

“Okay, can you do that after breakfast, please?” The time was slightly limited and Niall really wanted to get everything done before he had to go to work and mostly before he’d drop May off at her grandparents’ house. Not Niall’s own parents but May’s mothers’, who resented him but still wanted to see their granddaughter occasionally and they didn’t have to know they were basically baby sitting for him today so he could go to work, right? “And also, put some toys you wanna bring to your grandparents’ house into your backpack, okay? You can bring a film if you want.”

“But they don’t like when I watch films.” Right. They also had nothing at all at their house to entertain a child and usually they always took May on walks that would completely tire her out, not the worst thing of course, but it also didn’t make her too excited to go visit. Not that she saw them too often to begin with. 

“You can still bring one, just in case.” Just in case they would ever stop running out of new hiking trails completely unsuitable for a 6-year-old. 

“How long until you get me?” She didn’t sound very happy now that Niall had mentioned it, but he didn’t have much of a choice but to bring her to her grandparents every once in a while. And it’s not like she hated it or them, she just never had that much fun. 

“A few hours, okay? At around 5.” Niall added after remembering that she had learned the clock by now, watching her pull a bit of a face after it had sunk in. “May, you don’t have to eat the dinner there if you really don’t like it. Just be really polite about it, okay?”

“But grandma always tries really hard. I just don’t like it when she cooks…. Can I say I’m not hungry even if it’s not true?” This was really something Niall should have tried to fix because it was a re-occurring problem, but he had no idea how. The truth was, he was slightly afraid of them because when May had been around a year old, they had threatened to take him to court over legal guardianship and all that fun stuff after a fight and ever since then, Niall usually tried to avoid saying all too much. They also never called him but always only wrote really hostile text messages, so yeah. 

“You can, but maybe she’s gonna make something you like, hm? You never know.” Niall tried to encourage his daughter, yet again, but it didn’t really seem to work out. He’d just have to throw together some left overs again tonight, he already knew. “Also… “

May looked up when Niall stopped talking for a second, not really knowing how to say this right now, but he still had to say it, even if it somehow felt a little wrong.

“Maybe… maybe your grandparents shouldn’t see those pictures you have with Liam.” It’s not that they didn’t know May was a fan, absolutely everyone knew that, but Niall knew that they didn’t approve, at ALL, and suddenly he was really afraid that Liam truly was going off the rails somehow because of last night and would become one of those celebrities who had one scandal after the other, so… and May’s grandparents already hated Niall anyways. “Just because they don’t like him that much.”

“Do you think they would say something mean about them?” Well, to be fair, Niall wasn’t gonna say that they wouldn’t.

“I don’t know, love.” He didn’t know them that well, that was the truth here, he just knew whatever May told him because those occasional encounters they had that went beyond hello were usually so unpleasant that Niall avoided them at all costs. It’s not that he didn’t understand that seeing him only brought them pain and memories they would have rather avoided, but May was still only 6 years old, she couldn’t visit them on her own obviously. “Maybe talking about Liam with them isn’t the best idea, okay?”

“Hmm… okay.” The girl agreed hesitantly before putting more cereal into her mouth and Niall just watched her, his heart aching a bit. He felt bad because of the video but he also felt bad because he didn’t want his daughter having to spend so much time at her grandparents’ when she didn’t even want to, but… Niall didn’t have a choice.

They spent the morning trying to get chores done and somehow keeping the flat clean, May trying her best to help but Niall wasn’t really motivated himself so that didn’t work out too great. At least he got done with everything before noon and he actually had 30 minutes left before he’d have to drive May over to her grandparents when Zayn FINALLY decided to fucking call him. And Niall almost missed the call as well.

“Zayn?” Niall asked, a little breathless because he had literally sprinted across the room to get to his phone, quickly closing the door as he walked into his own bedroom with it because May was playing in the living room. And she really couldn’t hear this. “Are you okay?”

“Does being half dead still count?” His friend half groaned into the phone and Niall could hear his bed sheets moving in the background. “Because even then I’m not sure… “

“What the fuck happened last night?” Normally Niall tried to keep his cursing at an absolute minimum because of May, but he truly didn’t care anymore right now, he just really needed to know this. “Do you even remember?”

“Yeah, ‘course I remember… I mean, not in every detail, but… fuck, Niall, this guy is crazy.” Zayn let out a laugh, but it sounded quite strangled and it also went over into a cough.

“Liam?” Niall asked, his stomach already twisting into knots somehow.

“What? Oh, yeah, he as well, but I meant that friend who dragged me to that club.” Oh. “Look, I just re-watched that video I made for May… maybe you shouldn’t show her that. Or like, crop out everything except Liam saying hi to her or something.”

“I don’t know if I even wanna show her any part of it… I’ve been having a few worries about her whole obsession with Liam since last night.” _A few_ was vastly understated, but yeah. “Did he really buy you drinks?”

“Yeah. But he bought a lot of people drinks, he was… pretty fucking smashed, as you probably know. He was there with a few of his friends I believe, maybe it was someone’s birthday, or… who knows. Maybe that’s just what he does on weekends? I don’t keep up with his life or with celebrities in general. He was nice though, but maybe that was the alcohol, whatever.” Great.

“You didn’t ask him for his number, did you? Please say you didn’t.” Not that it still mattered now, but… 

“I didn’t… I think. I’m gonna check my phone later. Why though? Pretty sure he won’t even remember it today, I can’t even remember all of it in detail and he had WAY more to drink… I told you you should have come.” Okay, literally why did Zayn still think that would have been a good idea?! “Imagine how funny, if you had hooked up with your daughter’s crush.”

“Yeah, super funny, Z, can’t imagine anything better. She’s six, he’s not her crush.” As far as Niall knew.

“Whatever, it was a joke… although ‘m pretty sure you could have gotten him to hook up with you. I wanna know what he did after he left, I think this might be the first time I’ll check those gossip articles, there were still paparazzi outside when I went home as well.” So Niall had been right not to check because he would have only been freaking the hell out over it. “Tough life this guy has.”

“It’s his own fault, it’s not like he’s only famous since a week or something.” Okay, maybe Niall was being slightly overly dramatic and judgmental here, but he kinda had a right to, as a parent and all.

“Just don’t show May any of it, she won’t even know. And it’s all harmless, right? It doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, and even if he was… it’s not like she would ever know. One day she’ll grow out of it.” Zayn tried to calm Niall, but the other man wasn’t that sure if it was truly helping.

“Are you sure?” Right now he really wasn’t.

“Pretty sure. It’s all good, Ni, don’t shit your pants, it’s not like he killed someone. A bit of bad press won’t make him the most hated celebrity in the country and no one will hate you for still allowing May to like him.” At least Zayn had looked through Niall’s worries immediately, but then again… was he really that good at judging the situation? That he could predict what was gonna happen? He was still clearly hungover as well. “If they do, they already did before.”

“I guess… I just don’t know if I wanna explain what happened in the video to her. Why he’s behaving that way.” Or what he had been drinking, because May would analyze every single detail about it, Niall just knew. “I gotta think about it… “

“Do that… I think I’m gonna hang up now, I feel like I’m gonna puke.” And with that, Zayn ended the call kind of abruptly, but Niall didn’t care too much anyways. At least Zayn hadn’t done anything super crazy and apparently neither had Liam, except for getting really drunk. Which wasn’t a crime or anything, it’s just… it wasn’t a good thing either. 

Niall didn’t end up showing May the video before bringing her to her grandparents, but he spent pretty much all day thinking about it while working and it wasn’t really helping that he barely had to drive the taxi and spent most of his time sitting around. Eventually, when his shift was coming to an end and Niall was pretty much only waiting for the time to pass by more quickly, he did bring himself to check his phone, look up Liam’s name on Twitter like he had so many times before when May had asked him to.

There were a lot of articles writing about last night, speculating and whatever, but Niall only skipped through all of that because he didn’t actually care, he just wanted to know if anything super bad had happened because he just wanted to be prepared in case some other parents were gonna confront him on Monday at school. 

Really though, there wasn’t anything, Liam had literally just gotten really drunk and it was only when Niall got to the pictures of him leaving that he got slightly worried because… they were kinda crazy, but whatever. It would have all been good had Niall not clicked on that last picture that was kinda good quality, had he not zoomed in on accident and had he not noticed something that was only making this entire thing a hundred times worse.

May’s bracelet around Liam’s wrist. 

 

\-----------------------

 

“You look like shit.” Louis greeted Niall upon walking in, the younger man having shown up early because Louis had given him a key anyways. “What happened? Bad weekend?”

“Just a bad Monday.” Niall told him even though they really didn’t even know each other since that long. It’s just, Niall had spent all of Saturday night and Sunday morning debating with himself whether to show May the pictures or not and obviously he had ended up doing it and… well, needless to say, they hadn’t talked about anything else all Sunday. At least she hadn’t noticed that Liam had been drunk out of his mind because Niall had looked for the most normal picture and he had also cropped the video in a way so it’d be somewhat harmless to show her.

He still wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea though. Not that he could have taken it back, May had watched that video probably 80 times by now and had asked Niall to print off that picture of Liam wearing her bracelet. How in god’s name had that happened? How had this guy genuinely read May’s letter AND put on that bracelet? Just… why? Of course Niall was happy for his daughter, of course he wanted her to be happy and excited, but at the same time… maybe this WAS getting out of hand.

“Literally how? It’s only 10 in the morning.” Louis was laughing as he took off his jacket before sitting on the couch next to Niall, handing him a cup of whatever. “Here, I didn’t know if you like coffee or tea or whatever but I thought I’d get you something anyways.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Niall was truly surprised, but he took the cup without hesitation because whatever it was, he probably needed it. “And it’s… kind of a long story, um… it’s just about my daughter, really.”

“Is she okay?” Louis seemed concerned for a moment, so Niall made sure to nod immediately.

“She’s great.” More than great, she was currently at school, probably already having told all of her friends about the bracelet and the video, not knowing Niall had been stopped by TWO mothers after dropping her off, asking him to have a chat with his daughter about certain celebrities because apparently it was bad influence on their own kids. Amazing. “Just something she’s going through and everyone is all worked up about it. But she’s having the time of her life.”

“Well, who cares about everyone else? As long as she’s happy.” The other man just said it, shrugging when Niall threw a look at him before probably downing half of his coffee or whatever he was having. “When I was a kid I constantly got in some harmless trouble for like, being too active and too loud or whatever, but I was just having a good time at school. My mom never punished me for it either, not even when the teachers called her.”

“We’re luckily not at the point where the teachers are calling, but I’m kinda waiting for it to happen.” Especially after today. “But you’re right… as long as she’s happy.”

“What’s going on with her?” Louis asked while checking his phone and Niall couldn’t help but think that this right here was the strangest work situation he had ever and probably would ever be in.

“She’s just really into this singer and… well, it’s slightly inappropriate, to be honest.” Then again, saying it out loud to someone on the outside, it actually didn’t sound like a big deal, at all. “And people already were up my back for a while, but now I’m afraid he’s kinda going off the rails and becoming a bad role model for a 6 year old… if he ever was a good one.”

“What sing-“

“What is this?!” Niall had taken a sip of whatever Louis had bought him, just the tiniest one, but he already wanted to puke, what the hell?! 

“Uuuh, I think that’s mine. Was already wondering why it went down so easy today.” Louis let out a laugh, simply taking the cup out of Niall’s hand to switch it out with his own half empty one. “It’s just black coffee… with a few extra shots. I don’t have a lot of time to sleep.”

“Do you know how bad this is for your health?” Niall couldn’t help it, quickly drinking from the other cup even though it didn’t taste much better at all. 

“You really are a father, huh?” The other man rolled his eyes, checking his phone one more time before getting out his laptop. Their first booking was only in 20 minutes, so they still had some time, but Niall still felt _slightly_ strange sitting there next to his boss while he was doing private things on his laptop. “So, who’s the singer your daughter likes?”

“Uh, this Liam Payne.” Niall told him, kinda not even wanting to say his name anymore. He had definitely spent too much time thinking about him lately.

“Hm.” Was all Louis made, seemingly not phased by it in any way although there was a smile tugging on his lips and Niall was about to ask if he even knew him, but then again… hadn’t Louis said something about writing for a music magazine or whatever? So he kinda had to know a lot about the music business, right? “Could be worse.”

“Have you met him?” Niall blurted out, expecting a no but instead, he was shocked to see Louis nod absently. “Also, that doesn’t sound very comforting.”

“I interviewed him once, he’s a good guy, really knows how to write songs… well, I imagine as a father you probably see that a bit differently.” Bingo. “And you’re probably stressed because of last weekend? Don’t worry too much about it, whatever he’s going through, I’m certain he already got it under control again, a little drama never hurt anybody.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure… “ Niall mumbled, though it felt a little relieving to hear Louis being so relaxed about it, as if it wasn’t a big deal, at all. “My daughter, she, uh… May wrote him a letter, because I somehow let myself be talked into getting her Meet and Greet tickets with him and… well, anyways, she’s currently at school showing everyone pictures of drunk Liam Payne at 3 in the morning walking out of a club while wearing the bracelet she put into the envelope. And telling her friends about the video message he made for her while completely hammered.”

Now, this was the first time Louis actually stopped whatever he had been doing, looking at Niall in the strangest way ever, almost with uncomfortable intensity. “That’s a bit… a bit more concerning than it sounded at first.”

“Yeah. But… there’s nothing I can do about it anyways, ‘m just hoping this will all blow over soon and she’ll grow out of it.” Never before had Niall really wished for that, but he suddenly was. “Anyways, sorry, I’m probably really boring you with all this, it’s a bit too early in the week for it… do you need me to do anything while we wait?”

“Actually… “ Louis started, still looking at Niall, but then seemingly changing his mind. “Never mind. And don’t worry about it, it’s not like anything exciting his happening right now, is it?” 

He was right, but Niall still suddenly felt slightly awkward, so he made sure to excuse himself to the bathroom a few moments later, just to have something to do other than sitting next to Louis complaining about all his problems. This would be a really long day, Niall had two guitar sessions after this and then he somehow had to get May and take her to meet up with Harry and work on some stuff and… all while he felt completely consumed by other worries.

 

\---------------------

 

“… so if we do it like this… no, that looks stupid as hell… or… no… “ Harry was always kinda indecisive when it came to things Niall viewed as completely pointless, so he didn’t interrupt his friend trying to figure out how to re-arrange some links on the website, just staring absently at the screen, every once in a while looking past it to check whether May was still doing her homework. “What if-… no… “

“Do you want tea?” Niall interrupted after a good ten minutes of not saying anything, waiting until Harry at least nodded absently before getting up to walk out of the room and into the hallway, not at all surprised when he heard footsteps coming after him.

“Daddy, when are we going home?” May whined, running a bit faster so she could grab Niall’s hand. “I’m bored. And I’m tired.”

“I know, love, me and uncle Harry just gotta finish this and I promise we’ll go home straight after, yeah?” There was nothing here for May to do other than her homework, they were in the law firm where Harry worked, trying to fix some things for one of the lawyers they both worked for. Actually, the whole website aspect and whatever was kind of Niall’s job, but they usually did this stuff together because… well, neither of them was super good at it. And Niall had only ever gotten this job because Harry worked here. “Do you want some hot chocolate?”

“Yes!” May was immediately in a better mood once they reached the coffee machine and Niall got out his wallet, momentarily having to let go of his daughter’s hand. It was around 4 in the afternoon and May hadn’t even had anything warm to eat today, so needless to say, Niall kinda felt like crap. 

Of course Liam had still been a topic when Niall had picked her up a while ago, but none of the other parents had stopped him anymore. Although… that didn’t really mean anything because it was only today that May had told everyone about the bracelet and the video, so surely tomorrow morning would be different.

“Careful, it’s really hot, don’t drink it just yet… can you carry that back like this?” Niall was a bit unsure when he handed his daughter the hot chocolate so he’d have his hands free to get something for himself and Harry, a little worried but she nodded anyways. 

“Thank you, daddy.” May told him, clearly having to use all of her willpower not to take a sip.

“You’re welcome, darling.” The man told her, looking down at her while he waited for Harry’s tea to be done, absently running his fingers through May’s hair. Maybe Louis was right, who even gave a crap what anyone else thought for as long as May was happy? And it’s not like there was any real harm in her liking Liam when she had no idea what being drunk and all that stuff even meant. 

When they got back, Harry was still completely focused on whatever he was doing, so Niall pulled May onto his lap, making sure to pre-taste the hot chocolate so it wasn’t too hot before allowing her to drink it. Pretty sure her homework wasn’t finished yet, but Niall wasn’t too concerned with that right now, he just tried his best to help Harry, letting May fall asleep in his arms after another half an hour had passed.

“Is your new job more exciting than this?” Harry asked after a while, laughing quietly when Niall just shrugged a bit, carefully because he was holding his daughter. Then again, she usually slept like a stone anyways. 

“I think I just got the job because this guy needed some company in that studio… he always only wants to talk about our private lives.” To be fair, Niall hadn’t tried to change the topic in any way though.

“Maybe he likes you.” The other man suggested, in a joking way sort of, but also… somehow not really. 

“I doubt it, we’ve only seen each other like… three or four times, I forgot.” Time was passing by a lot more quickly now that it was getting close to the holidays and usually it was the other way around, but maybe it was because Niall kinda really wasn’t looking forward to any of it this year. “But I’ll introduce you if you want.”

“No, thanks, I’m way too busy right now to meet someone… maybe Zayn is interested?” Harry grinned when Niall threw a look at him, not saying anything though because he wasn’t letting himself get pulled into whatever his two friends hated about each other. “Remember when he thought I was into him just because he found out I like guys? And how he told you he was only ignoring me so he wouldn’t make me any false hopes?”

“I do remember that, sadly.” It had been right after Niall had introduced them, but the truth was, these two had just never hit it off and they never would. 

“That was the funniest thing ever… can’t believe he really thought it was a good idea to make that video for May.” Of course Harry had already seen it as well, May having made Niall show him literally four seconds after arriving. Not the full version though Niall had shown it to him and told him the true story after his daughter had fallen asleep. 

“He was drunk.” Niall tried to defend him though he also wished Zayn wouldn’t have done it, no matter how good his intentions had been. 

“He’s drunk every weekend, isn’t he?” True, but… well, true. “One would think he’s used to it by now.”

“He’s just having some… stressful times at his job.” Which had lasted ever since he had graduated. “I don’t wanna imagine what it’s like keeping teenagers under control all day long. And grading papers that are probably even worse than mine were back in high school.”

“You weren’t even that bad of a student, Nialler. Only sometimes.” Sometimes as in, at least for the last 3 years. “Still… what’s so much more stressful about his life than ours? I’d say he’s got it the easiest, we all know he doesn’t even prepare anything at home.”

“Haz, I know you don’t like him, everyone knows that, but he had good intentions with that video, it just… backfired a little. And now I’m kinda paranoid as hell and terrified of dropping May off at school tomorrow because I don’t even wanna know what else this guy is up to whenever I don’t check online.” Which Niall hadn’t done anymore since then, because this was a little out of control. Plus, it’s not like he had the time. 

“I can’t say I’m jealous of these kinda problems… “ Harry told him after a moment and Niall couldn’t even blame him for it. “If I have kids one day you’re gonna think I’m a whimp because you’ll have been an expert for years by then. Who knows what kinda celebrities are gonna be popular then, probably even worse ones than this Liam guy.”

“You can learn from my mistakes then, don’t let them watch stuff on the internet. Or on TV. And don’t get a radio for your car or for anywhere really.” Of course Niall was just joking, May had first heard about Liam from her friends at kindergarden after all, so it’s not like he could have prevented it. He could have been feeding the obsession a little less though, but… it made her so happy. 

“I’ll remember that.” The other man laughed, quickly editing something on his laptop then before leaning back, the exhaustion in his face probably mirrored in Niall’s when they looked at each other. “I’d say we’re done now, I think if I kept going I’d just make it worse. ‘sides, we’re the only ones who know how to do any of this stuff and we don’t even do it that well, so who’s gonna complain anyways?”

“No one, they always think it’s great whatever we do.” Which was really nice, because neither of them was exactly trying hard or putting much work into it, like yeah, sometimes there were a lot of emails that needed to be answered and problems with the websites that took hours to figure out, but all in all… Niall was pretty grateful for the job. And Harry didn’t have a choice anyways if he wanted to get anywhere with his law degree, he’d have to do the awful jobs first. “Let’s leave.”

The whole building was probably empty by the time they were walking outside together, Niall not having bothered to wake May even though it was quite stupid because she’d only have a harder time falling asleep later on. He felt bad though, for having kept her in this room for hours with nothing to play with and just making her do homework, but at least now his meal prep would come in handy.

“Do you wanna come to ours? I got dinner.” Niall spontaneously decided to invite Harry, just because he knew he’d probably be too lazy to start cooking now because let’s be honest, if Niall hadn’t had a child, he would only be living off of leftovers and ramen or something. 

“Really? I don’t wanna like, mess up your schedule or-“

“There’s no schedule. I mean, there is one but it gets messed up every second day, so, whatever. Just come.” Niall decided, grateful when Harry held the door to his car open so Niall could put his sleeping daughter into her seat. She had literally not even budged the slightest bit in ages, that’s how exhausted she must have been. They really needed to get their sleeping habits under control, or better, Niall had to. “Not sure yet what we’re having though, I gotta look in the freezer.”

“I honestly don’t mind, I’d eat anything right now, so thank you.” Harry laughed, sounding pretty serious though and Niall decided that it had been a good decision to invite him. Also because May would be excited too once she woke up, she always liked whenever they had visitors, although that wasn’t very often because of Niall’s lack of time.

They both had come with their own cars, so they drove separately to Niall’s flat and May was still asleep by the time they arrived, but she did wake up when Niall handed her over to Harry so he could unlock the front door. Turned out that he had done a lot more meal prep lately than he had thought, so they kinda all ended up with different things to eat, which was completely fine though, maybe even better because it meant they all had their preferences.

Though it was kind of a Monday night, Niall told Harry he didn’t have to go home even after he had brought May to bed, with a little bit of struggle because Harry was there, but she fell asleep after 5 minutes yet again, so that was great. Plus, they had only missed bedtime by a little bit. 

“Oh, thanks, you really didn’t have to do that.” Niall was rather surprised when he came back to the kitchen and Harry had already done the washing up, just sitting at the kitchen table again, shrugging while drinking his juice. The thing was, Niall only had tap water and juice pouches at home, so… Harry had opted for the second.

“I didn’t mind, it wasn’t a lot anyways… and you did everything else. Is May already asleep?” Niall got himself some water before sitting down as well and just nodding, feeling slightly exhausted but at the same time not as tired as he would have expected rolling out of bed this morning. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?” Confused, Niall put down his glass to look at his friend, putting his phone on the table just in time to still catch a glimpse of a text message from Louis. So tomorrow probably wouldn’t be very relaxing either.

“Everything. You literally have 4 different jobs and a child and you don’t even look stressed half the time.” Oh.

“I am stressed, I’ve just gotten used to it, I guess… but my parents are helping me out a lot and you and Zayn sometimes babysit as well, I’d probably have a breakdown otherwise.” Or he’d simply have no money because he couldn’t have taken May to every single job he had… but to most, to be fair. Just not all the time. “It’s just the way it is though, and I don’t think I’m a person who could just sit around and do nothing anyways. And let’s be real… I would have dropped out of uni anyways.”

“You can still go back one day, when May is older.” Harry always said that, maybe because he thought Niall regretted his decisions or something, but the truth was… he really didn’t, actually. “Is that guy from your new job actually paying you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a contract or anything, so it’s like… a bit weird. I think he wants me to come in tomorrow as well, he just texted me.” Niall unlocked his phone upon speaking, quickly reading over Louis’ message. “Okay, never mind, it’s on the weekend. Guess I’ll introduce him to May then.”

“Show me his profile picture.” Harry suddenly demanded, so Niall tapped on it before sliding the phone across the table. Louis looked like a right douche in that picture. “He’s not as old as I thought.”

“I think he’s like… 26? I forgot. He writes for some gossip music magazine apparently… he knows Liam.” No idea why Niall had felt the need to say that right now, maybe because Liam had been on his mind pretty much all day. “He interviewed him or something.”

“Well, that’s perfect though? Now you can get all the details.” Somehow Harry was still busy looking at the profile picture, but Niall didn’t really pay too much attention because he shouldn’t have said that, now he was all caught up in thoughts again. 

“I don’t want any details, I just… I want things to go back to normal. And for these mothers to stop pestering me about being a terrible parent and- fuck, I just remembered May didn’t even finish her homework.” Niall groaned a bit before putting his head on his folded arms on the table, feeling Harry petting his head in pity, clearly not knowing what to say.

Which was fine though, because there wasn’t anything he could have done anyways. Plus… maybe Niall was being slightly over dramatic. Just maybe.

 

\-------------------

 

“Okay, yeah, no problem, I’ll be there.” Niall told Louis over speaker because he was busy navigating the taxi through all the traffic, silently cursing whoever was making him drive into central London at this time of day. “I might have to bring my daughter, if I can’t find a babysitter in time.”

“That’s fine. Should I bring my dog?” What?

“Why?” Louis was the weirdest person Niall had ever met, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but… 

“I don’t know, she can play with him, maybe? So she won’t get bored. He’s not that big, he’s a labradoodle, if you know what they look like, I can send you a picture so you’ll know if she’s gonna get scared.” Okay, why was he so eager about this all of a sudden? As if this was super important? As if Niall worked for HIM and not the other way around. Maybe he was just terrified that Niall would quit again. 

“Yeah, no, she’s not scared of dogs, you can bring him. But you really don’t have to, I’ll just pack some toys for her or my iPad or whatever, she’ll be fine.” She was used to it after all. “… are you at work right now?”

“Yeah, why? I thought so are you?” Fair enough. 

“I am, but… I’m all alone in a car, no one can see me.” While talking, Niall had to resist from cursing out loud when the lights turned red yet again without him having been able to drive on. God damn it. 

“Everyone can see me, but no one cares.” Louis laughed, making Niall roll his eyes to himself because what the hell? Was he trying to brag now? “Anyways, I guess I’m gonna hang up now anyways, I gotta go on lunch break.”

“Um, okay… happy lunch break, I guess.” Niall couldn’t help but sound slightly annoyed, only making the older man laugh harder before he ended the call, only leaving Niall with the sound of traffic yet again. 

He was gonna be late, he should have been at the location 5 minutes ago, but honestly, it wasn’t his own fault and also not the first time it had happened. So when Niall did finally reach the place he had been called to, he half expected that whoever it had been was pissed, or at least slightly upset, because it was a kind of expensive hotel and usually people from there needed to go to the airport. Perks of working for a somewhat upper class company… or maybe not. Because as often as it meant higher tips, it also meant a lot more complaints.

Truly, Niall wasn’t paying all too much attention, he just quickly greeted one of the men who worked at the hotel because he already knew him, about to get out of the car because there was surely luggage, but it never got to that point.

Before Niall could have gotten out, someone had already opened the back door and thrown it shut again a second after, sounding just a little out of breath, and also slightly rushed. “Can you just drive?”

“Um, of course… where to?” Niall asked, a bit confused because this had been unexpected, but when he threw the tiniest glance into the rear view mirror, his heart kinda dropped into his pants.

So… Liam Payne had really just gotten into his taxi, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :)
> 
> thank you soooo much for all the kudos & comments so far, im so happy so many of you enjoyed the first chapter <33 i really hope you liked this one too!! im trying my hardest with this fic to not make it super long and slow burn again because i feel like i should try something else haha! let me know your thoughts :D
> 
> next tuesday is both gonna be the day i have one of the hardest exams ever BUT its also my 5 year anniversary since i signed up for ao3! it's crazy as hell to think that its been so damn long, that i was still in high school back then! id just like to thank everyone who has stuck around for a long time & everyone who ever read a single sentence of any of my fics, i appreciate every single one of you, thank you for making writing so much fun & for making me keep my only hobby lmao. no but seriously, i love you guys & something would definitely be missing in my life if i werent on here & im so thankful i got to evolve as a writer and that 99.9% of all my comments have been lovely and respectful for 5 YEARS, that really says something about the people on here <3


	3. Chapter 3

“Just… drive ahead, please.“ This was the strangest encounter of Niall’s life, probably, like, he kinda felt like pinching himself really fucking hard or something. Not that he was happy about this or anything, he genuinely just felt so shocked and flashed that he almost forgot how to drive a car.

“I, um… I need a location, because I have t-“

“Okay, okay. Heathrow, whatever.” Had Niall not thrown constant looks in the mirror, he wouldn’t have actually believed that it was Liam sitting in the back, now on his phone though and clearly stressing out about something. Also, he didn’t even have a bag with him, and sadly Niall knew way too much about his private life so he knew that Liam lived in or only a bit outside London, so… why the hotel? Oh god, was he gonna have another scandal? “Could you maybe turn on the radio?”

Niall did what he had been asked without answering while trying to keep his head clear enough so that he wouldn’t crash into something and be sued for a billion pounds. He could never tell May about this, could he? Hell, he’d be in that car with Liam for bloody ages because of the traffic and changes were one of his songs was gonna come on the radio at some point and like… what was Niall supposed to do? Just ignore all of this? Probably, it would’ve been the professional thing to do anyways.

For a few minutes, it was just that, Niall trying to focus only on the car and the radio playing some shit and Liam probably playing on his phone. At some point though, Niall almost flinched a bit when he suddenly heard him speaking up, only to realize he was talking to someone on the phone. Thank god, though.

“Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call earl-… yeah? It’s none of your business?... I don’t have to tell you where I’m going every second of the day, you know? It’s-… no?!” Well, that didn’t sound too good, Niall almost thought about turning the volume of the radio even higher, but he settled for pretending to be deaf instead. Much better. “I didn’t do anything, okay? It’s all gonna blow over and-“

He was clearly being interrupted quite a lot, and Niall wondered who he was talking to even though he knew he shouldn’t have cared. He did care though because actually, he was really fucking pissed off at Liam, some celebrity who didn’t even know he existed, but still, he was making Niall’s life significantly harder by purely breathing. 

“Yeah, whatever… I’m gonna hang up now, I’m in a taxi and-… I don’t wanna come over, there’s nothing to talk about…. Yeah, bye.” And then the call was clearly over and Niall felt even more awkward than he had before. Honestly, he would have LOVED to say something right now, but he knew it would have been stupid and unprofessional and no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t confront Liam about being a bad role model to his 6-year-old daughter, could he? “Ummm, can you drive somewhere else instead?”

“Where?” Niall kept his answers at a minimum, just telling Liam okay when he told him some address and Niall typed it into his navigation system, not all too relieved because that didn’t shorten the drive by much. Then again, who even cared anymore?

Minutes passed by like this, the traffic only got worse and Niall kept glancing at the clock, refraining from looking into the mirror though except for when it was kind of unavoidable. Maybe he could just erase this whole thing from his memory after it was over, like, pretend it had never happened and never tell anyone about it? Sounded like a pretty good idea right now.

As Niall had already feared, the moment where one of Liam’s songs started playing on the radio sadly did come, but Niall didn’t even do as much as budge. He just left it on, letting all the awkwardness consume him for at least a whole minute before Liam suddenly spoke up from the back. “Can you maybe turn that down?”

So Niall did, yet again without saying anything, but he kinda wondered what Liam’s problem was. Maybe he was just sick of hearing AND singing that song, or maybe he was one of those people who hated hearing their own voice, which… would have been kind of inconvenient for a singer. Not that Niall cared, he just wanted this to be over.

Usually Niall’s phone was turned on silent whenever he was in a shift, but it wasn’t today because he had talked to Louis before and usually he wouldn’t have cared about having it go off with someone in the car, but he kinda did today. Plus, it was his MOTHER calling, out of all bloody people.

“Sorry… “ Niall apologized quickly, about to just end the call because he had the phone plugged into free speaker anyways.

“I don’t mind. At all.” Liam told him from the back, still playing on his own phone when Niall threw the quickest look back before deciding to pick up. His mother never really called him at this time of day and she probably knew he was at work, so maybe it was an emergency?

“Hi, mom, I’m at work.” Niall made sure to tell her immediately, suddenly getting major anxiety that she had called to talk shit about Liam, because in that case Niall might have had to quit his job and leave the country tomorrow. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you were working today… are you at this sketchy recording studio again?” Oh god, why?

“No, I’m driving today, and there’s actually someone in the taxi right now, so if there’s noth-“

“Just real quick, about May’s Christmas presents.” Okay, did she really have to call about May’s presents TODAY? In the middle of the week? At this time of day?! 

“Um, okay?” Niall asked, making sure she kinda knew he was annoyed because like… why was this happening to him? “It’d probably be better if we talked about that another time, I-“

“It’s almost the middle of December and I’m in the store right now. I just need her clothing sizes again, I know you’ve written them down for me a hundred times, but that child grows so quick.” So Niall told her, feeling quite weird about it, but the radio was on as well and there was street noise from outside, so… at least Liam was being entertained, right? “Okay, thank you. Send me a list of everything you bought her so we don’t clash again, okay?”

“I haven’t bought anything yet, but okay.” Once Niall finally had the damn time he would, because if things wouldn’t change soon he’d have to find a babysitter for May just to buy her presents. 

“You weren’t actually being serious about getting her a shirt with those pictures on, were you?” Oh god, was she trying to KILL Niall?!

“Ummm… no. Look, I really have to stop talking now, okay? Bye, love you.” Niall ended the call before his mother could have replied because he was terrified of her saying Liam’s name or something. He should have really been more cautious before answering that call, but it was done now anyways.

There was a second of silence, Niall turned up the radio slightly more because Liam’s song was long over anyways, so he was even more surprised to hear the other man speak again. “That seems to be a common name.”

“What, May?” Could he not do that?!

“Yeah. Your daughter?” Okay, if Liam was about to do small talk now then Niall needed to really think of something because there was NO way he could play clueless for that long. 

“She is, yeah … “ Niall confirmed, nodding a bit to himself though Liam couldn’t even see him probably. Or maybe he could, either way, Niall was simply nervous and nothing else and he didn’t even know why. 

There was more silence following that and suddenly Niall felt really bad, like… Liam was in the fucking car with him, being somewhat nice for talking to a complete stranger and Niall wasn’t even thinking about anything he could have done for May, like… gotten her an autograph or something? It was gonna be Christmas soon, as his mother had just reminded him on the phone, and yeah, she had those pictures and the video and Niall kinda wanted her to become less obsessed with Liam, but… he also wanted her to be happy.

And the car ride wasn’t too much longer and Liam could have just said no if it really annoyed him, right?

“Umm… maybe this is too personal, I’m sorry if it is, but my daughter, she’s like… a big fan. Of you.” Niall started awkwardly, because he literally had no idea how else to say this, so he was also speaking quite fast, just hoping Liam was able to follow. “So, it’d be really cool if you could sign something for her or so, but you really don’t have to obviously, I’d really get it, you probably get asked this all the time.”

There was no immediate answer and Niall already kinda got slightly upset again, like on the inside, because Liam wasn’t exactly in his good books right now, but it seemed there was no reason for that when he suddenly let out a quick laugh. “Sure, I can do that. I didn’t think you had any idea who I was.”

“Yeah, no, I… I didn’t wanna be rude, so.” Also, what did Liam expect? Did other taxi drivers just chat him up if they recognized him or something? “I got like, some paper, it doesn’t even have to look nice or anything.”

“Okay.” Liam agreed immediately when Niall was rummaging through the side of the car door to find something to write on, which was kinda hard with one hand, but… “I have a pen, actually.”

“Oh, good.” Niall only found some really crinkled up paper, probably had some notes written on it too, but whatever, May wouldn’t care.

“What’d you want me to write?” Liam asked once Niall had handed the paper back to him, clearly suppressing a laugh now, but the younger man didn’t even care anymore. “Merry Christmas?”

“Yeah, that’s good, thanks. And… can you maybe write her name?” Just because May would surely wanna show it off to her friends, so… “It’s just written like the month May.”

“Okay, done. Here you go.” When Liam leaned forward a bit to drop the paper on the passenger seat, Niall looked over just for the split of a second, his eyes catching something red when Liam’s sleeve slipped up a bit, and this time, he truly almost crashed into the car in front of him. “Woah.”

“Sorry, oh god… thank you for writing that, she’s gonna freak out.” Niall quickly tried to move on from the embarrassment, still half caught up with the fact that Liam was still wearing that bracelet, like… he kinda had to comment it now, he just had to. “Um, that bracelet… “

“What?” Liam sounded really confused, probably super annoyed already because he had just been wanting to do small talk and now Niall was here asking him to do stuff and almost crashing the car. 

“The one you’re wearing, uh… May made that for you. She put it in the letter she wrote you when-“

“Wait, wait… for real? Your daughter was the one who made that?! Wow, what kinda coincident is that?” Literally the weirdest one ever. “So you were at the concert? I only get letters from there usually.”

“Yeah, I got her Meet and Greet tickets, she’s liked you for two years, so… she almost cried when she saw those pictures of you wearing that bracelet, so thank you.” At this point, Niall thought about what Liam would have said if he had also told him thank you from Zayn for buying him drinks, but obviously he didn’t do that. That would have been really crossing a line, even if it would have been a little amusing. 

“Oh wow, yeah, I… I just thought it was really cute, what she wrote in the letter.” No idea, Niall hadn’t even read it. “I couldn’t read all of it, but… so tell her thank you from me.” 

“I will.” Niall wasn’t sure yet if he really would because he wasn’t that convinced May would only be happy about it, she’d probably also be sad Niall had met Liam and she hadn’t. 

“Actually… do you have some more paper? And how old is your daughter?” For a second, Niall didn’t know what he meant, but then it slowly sunk in and there was another red light anyways, so he had the time to actually give Liam some proper piece of paper and tell him her age, really surprised about this turn of events. Okay, so how was he supposed to still not think Liam was a good role model to his daughter, when he went out of his way to write her another note?

Niall had no idea where he was driving Liam to of course, he just knew that Liam seemed kinda busy writing that note for the rest of the drive until they got to the destination and Niall tried to think of something smart to say, but his brain felt slightly empty, so he remained silent.

“Alright, here, thanks for driving me. Keep the rest. And this is for your daughter.” When Liam handed him the money it was way too much, but Niall couldn’t really react properly to it right now because he was more busy staring at the note that Liam had even folded in the middle to write May’s name on one blank side. “Thanks for the money you spent on my concert.”

“Yeah, um… thank you for taking the time to write this for her, it really means a lot.” Truly, Niall would have never expected or asked for this in a million years, he still felt slightly taken aback when he looked at Liam a last time, smiling at him before saying goodbye and getting out of the car.

Had Niall had to make a list of the weirdest and most random experiences in his life, this one would have deserved the number one spot by far.

 

\--------------------

 

For a few hours during that day while he was still working, Niall actually considered waiting to give May the note on Christmas Day, but then he decided to just keep the autograph for that because it actually said Merry Christmas, so… good thing he had two fucking things to give her, right? Damn, suddenly he didn’t even care anymore what Liam had done over the weekend or what else he would probably still do, because he seemed to be a genuinely nice person and… who was Niall to judge him for his private life?

There was a knock on Niall’s car window as he waited in front of May’s school, in the spot he always waited for her, and upon turning his head, he already wanted to roll his eyes into the back of his head before rolling down the window instead. “Hi.”

“Yeah, hi.” It was some mother whose son went to the same class as May, Niall didn’t know all of them by name, he had just seen them way too many times. “I don’t know if you remember, but my son goes to this school. With your daughter, May?”

“Mhm?” Niall made, already knowing what this was about anyways and actually he had dreaded this very moment, but after what had happened today… 

“Right. So, I just wanted to let you know that me and a few other parents really don’t appreciate how your daughter talks about things way too inappropriate for her age. And normally I wouldn’t get involved or anything, but when my son comes home after school telling me he thinks some shirtless man is, and I quote your daughter here, _super good looking_ , then I can’t keep quiet. And this isn’t a one time occurrence either, it happens at least once a week from what I heard and I really think you need to talk to your daughter about this. It’s inappropriate for her and for all the other children.” What a surprise.

“What is inappropriate about thinking somebody is good looking?” Obviously Niall was just playing dumb, he was just so over this.

“It’s not just about that, it’s about your daughter’s whole obsession with this singer. Who, may I remind you, is not only over-sexualizing himself on social media and in all his videos and songs, but I heard from one of my friends he’s also doing drugs and-“

“Listen, what my daughter likes or doesn’t like is my problem, not yours. From my understanding May hasn’t done or said anything wrong to your son and they actually seem to be friends, so I really don’t see the problem here.” It was probably the hardest thing ever for Niall to stay somewhat calm right now, so he did get out of the car so she wouldn’t be talking down to him anymore, but also because May would show up any seconds anyways.

“Your daughter is a bad influence, that’s the problem here.” The mother told him, crossing her arms in front of her chest as if that was somehow going to impress Niall right now. “I understand you’re a single father and you’re what, 24? But that doesn’t mean you get a free pass from actually _parenting_. If you can’t handle a child at your age then maybe you should look into fixing that somehow. For your daughter’s sake.”

“Um, excuse me? Who are you to tell me that? At least my daughter didn’t fail first grade because I was too lazy to help her with her homework and actually knows how to be respectful towards other people.” Normally Niall wouldn’t have brought these issues her son was having into the conversation, but like… if she was attacking his parenting skills… 

“What is that supposed to mean?! My son didn’t fail first grade, we decided to hold him back, he just… he needs a bit longer than others. And he’s shy.” So shy he had called one of the teachers a fat pig, but that wasn’t Niall’s problem, was it? He just really enjoyed seeing that woman’s face turning all red and embarrassed.

“Really? Because May asked me if he could come over so I could help him with his school work sometime because he told everyone his parents are always busy with his siblings. Glad to hear that’s not the case then.” Niall told her sarcastically, watching her open her mouth before closing it again, obviously not having expected this. “Listen, I think your son is a sweet kid and I know he’s friends with May, so I’m willing to forget all the things you just said to me this one time. I don’t care what you or whoever else thinks about May liking this singer, she’s my daughter and no one else’s and she knows where the line is because we talked about it a hundred times, so I’m not taking it away from her if it makes her this happy just because some people don’t like it. Have a good day.”

And then Niall just walked away because what the hell? He had nothing left to say and kids were pouring out of the school now so he went to go look for May instead, not having to walk very far from his car to see her.

“Daddy!” She was already running towards him before Niall had even seen her, feeling a smile spreading on his face as he got down a bit when she held her arms open so he could pick her up immediately.

“Hi, darling, how was school?” Niall kissed her forehead as he carried her back to the car, relieved to see that this mother had already left. Hopefully she’d tell everyone she had been gossiping with what had happened so that no one else would think about asking Niall about it. So what if May made some kids in her class think Liam was good looking? How was that Niall’s problem? It’s not like it was a LIE. 

“Really good, I got all points on my maths test! I gotta show you at home, it was really hard. And I got a star sticker next to my name.” Her grin was massive and Niall felt warmth spreading in his stomach as he looked at her, kissing her cheek again before gently putting her down.

“You definitely have to show me, I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.” He really was, even though she had always been kinda good at school so far, but maybe that just made him even prouder. Not that school was the most important thing, it just amazed Niall how his daughter was so motivated and so different from how he had been as a student. “I have a surprise for you in the car.”

“Really?! What is it?!” May was immediately all excited, jumping up and down when Niall put her schoolbag into the trunk before making sure to put her into her car seat in the back. To be honest, he would have been way too excited to wait until Christmas to give her the note.

“One second, let me get in the car as well then I’m gonna tell you, okay?” Niall laughed when she pulled a face, ruffling her hair before carefully closing the door and getting into the driver’s seat. It had been hours since he had driven Liam, but it still felt like it had just happened somehow. “Okay, are you ready? Because it’s the best surprise ever.”

“I’m ready!” She looked like it too.

“Alright, here you go.” Niall turned around to hand her the note, well aware that her face fell for a moment, but he knew she’d be freaking out again in a moment. “You have to read it, it’s a letter.”

“From who?” May asked while Niall started the car. Of course he had read the note before, multiple times actually to make sure he could help her out when she couldn’t read a word because though she was quite good at reading for her age, she was still only 6 years old.

“Read it, I’ll help you if you get stuck.” Niall encouraged her, almost not being able to take the excitement himself anymore because it still hadn’t sunk in somehow. Like of course the fact that Liam had done this for May was already the greatest thing ever, but just thinking about how much May actually liked him and how random it had been for Liam to get into Niall’s taxi… almost as if fate had really wanted May to have this letter.

“Dear May” She started, not having any trouble with that obviously, but it was going to get a lot harder very soon. Which Niall knew because of how many times he had already read that note, somehow growing to like Liam more each time. But how could he have not? May was his entire world and somebody making her this happy when he really didn’t have to… of course Niall appreciated that more than anything. “T… Thank you… thank your… l… what does that mean?”

“Letter.” Niall told her, and to be fair, Liam’s hand writing wasn’t the neatest, plus, he had written it in a moving car on his thigh, so… 

“Thank you for your letter.” May read again before suddenly stopping, probably thinking about who she had written letters to, but apparently it hadn’t sunk in just yet. “It was… r-really nice to… I don’t know what this means, the letters are weird.”

“It says, it was really nice to meet you.” Good thing Niall knew the letter by heart. Not that it was very long because Liam had definitely tried to make it age appropriate, which… was quite ironic, to be honest.

“Okay… wait, daddy… who wrote this?” The little girl asked from the back and the sudden excitement in her voice made it very clear who her mind had wandered to. 

“Keep reading and you’re gonna know.” Honestly, Niall was about to just cite it to her because he felt like a kid himself all of a sudden, wanting her to figure it out so badly right at this moment. But he also didn’t wanna ruin the surprise. 

There was only silence coming from the back though, May didn’t read on and when Niall checked in the mirror, he could see just how big her eyes had gotten, her mouth having dropped open. She must have seen something that had given it away, probably his signature. Or maybe she had read on in silence, even though she wasn’t really good at that. So maybe not.

“May?” Niall asked, just to make sure she was alright, feeling a smile tugging in the corner of his mouth though. “Are you alright, darling?”

“Daddy… “ She started, her voice almost only a whisper and Niall almost let out a laugh, but from excitement more than anything else. Honestly, Liam probably hadn’t known just how happy he would make May with that letter, but it didn’t really matter why he had done it anyways. “Did… did Liam write that?”

“He did.” Niall just confirmed it without making her read on, just because he really wanted to know her reaction and damn, he definitely got it, maybe not quite as he had expected though.

There was more silence again before May simply burst out into tears, which kind of really surprised Niall because she hadn’t even cried over the Meet and Greet, so for a second, he was almost panicked that she was upset or sad or something. “H-How?”

“I was driving the taxi today and I was driving him. He was still wearing your bracelet and we talked a bit about you and he remembered your letter and then he wanted to write you one as well.” Which was completely true, Niall would have never asked for a whole letter, he had only wanted the autograph after all, so he had no problem telling his daughter all that. Even if he was still a bit worried it’d make her sad. “There’s no need to cry, love. Are you happy?”

“Y-Yes.” She sniffed, holding onto Niall’s hand when he reached back as he stopped the car at a red light, keeping his head straight ahead to look at the street though as he rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, feeling his own eyes getting a bit wet. “W-Was he n-nice?”

“He was really nice. He took a long time to write that letter as well and it was his idea, he must have really remembered yours because he said he thought it was really cute what you wrote him. And that’s why he was also wearing the bracelet.” And would hopefully continue to wear it, at least for a little bit longer so May could be happy about it maybe another time he got papped outside. “And he remembered your name as well.”

“R-Really?” Now May was crying even more if possible, like, she wasn’t sobbing or anything, but Niall could hear it in her voice and he could see it whenever he threw a quick look back. Luckily she wasn’t crying on the letter though, because he knew she would have been upset to get it wet. 

“Really.” Niall confirmed, because not even that was a lie or an exaggeration, the only reason he and Liam had gotten into talking had been because her name must have somehow stayed in his memory. If Niall thought about it, then Liam had heard it a lot of times during the past month, at the Meet and Greet, at the mall, in the letter, the video he had made for Zayn, and now when Niall’s mother had said it… like yeah, he probably met a TON of people and kids, but he also didn’t seem to have that bad of a memory apparently. “You wanna read the rest of the letter?”

“Y-Yes… but I c-can’t s-see.” She sniffed again and Niall felt his heart melting a little as he gave her hand another squeeze before having to let go so he wouldn’t be unsafe while driving. “I c-can’t believe h-he w-wrote me a-a l-letter… I l-love him s-so m-much.”

“I know, baby. I’m so happy he did that for you, that was so nice of him, hm?” There was a bit of a knot in Niall’s throat now because of how extreme May’s reaction was, like, she wasn’t loud or squealing, none of what he had expected her to do. Instead she was just so overwhelmed that she was actually bawling her eyes out. “We’re almost home, then I can read it to you, okay?”

“O-Okay.” May answered, her voice sounding strained and Niall had a feeling they wouldn’t get much more done today, because she’d surely be crying again once he had read the rest of the letter to her even if she calmed down in the meantime.

They were in the car for maybe five more minutes before Niall pulled into his usual parking spot and May’s face was still all wet when they finally got into their flat, still taking off her shoes and jacket though without rushing, so Niall really appreciated that. She refused to let go of the letter though, so Niall made sure to immediately sit on the couch without doing anything else first, lifting her onto his lap.

“Are you still crying?” He asked before starting to read, attempting to wipe a few of the stains her tears had left, but she just shook her head, leaning back against him when Niall leaned against the couch, holding the letter with her so he could read it properly. “Okay… _Dear May. Thank you for your letter. It was really nice to meet you and I hope you enjoyed the concert. I’m currently in the taxi with your dad and he told me a lot about you and that you made the bracelet for me, so thank you for that as well, I really like it. I hope you had a lovely day at school, thank you for listening to my music and coming to see me. Liam_ … are you okay, love?”

“N-No.” May had started crying all over again just like expected, her cheek all wet against Niall’s skin when he kissed it, holding her tightly as he blew raspberries against her neck to make her giggle for just a second before she went back to sniffing. “He’s s-so nice… “

“He really is.” Like, how could Niall have still denied that now or have had worries? 

So Niall just let her cry for a bit, cuddling her and rocking her a bit in his arms as he pressed kisses against her head and face. There was a ton of stuff they should have gotten done, her homework, Emails, dinner, cleaning, whatever else, but Niall suddenly didn’t feel rushed anymore, because seeing his daughter so happy and emotional, over something… it was truly the most rewarding thing ever. 

Sure, there wasn’t really a way to go up from here, May now had pretty much gotten absolutely everything from Liam she could have ever wanted, and in such a short amount of time as well, but Niall didn’t think that she had actually ever expected just half as much, so he wasn’t too worried about the aftermath. Instead, he was just truly grateful and happy.

 

\------------

 

“Hi, you must be May?” Louis was being overly nice, so nice it was almost a little creepy, but Niall had already made sure to talk to his daughter on the way here, just so she’d know what to expect kind of. 

“Hi.” May shook his hand when he held it towards her, but she was also still almost squishing Niall’s.

“You can just call me Louis, if you want.” He told her with a smile that was slightly too big and Niall could tell that May struggled to return it as she nodded a bit. “Your dad told me lots about you, I was super excited to meet you.”

There was no answer, though Niall tried to silently encourage his daughter, but it seemed she had gone shy all of a sudden, so he just threw an apologetic glance at the other man.

“Actually” Louis just overplayed the silence luckily, seemingly unbothered, so that was good. “I’ve got someone else here who would like to meet you.”

“Who?” May asked after a second and though Niall hadn’t really cared before, he was suddenly really glad that Louis had decided to bring his dog after all.

“C’mon, I’ll show you.” Louis’ dog must have been really well behaved if he was being all quiet alone locked away in one of the recording rooms, which kind of surprised Niall, because Louis didn’t strike him as the person to actually take time to train a dog. He seemed more like the kinda person to let his dog chill in his bed and feed him pizza at the same time.

It was obvious that May was curious, but she didn’t let go of Niall’s hand at any point when they walked down the hallway after Louis. They had shown up a bit earlier just so May and Louis could get to know each other for a few minutes because they’d all be here for a few hours, so Niall had kinda wanted to take some time for his daughter to actually arrive and get used to this here.

“Oooh, you have a dog!” Almost as soon as Louis had opened the door, May’s face had lightened up immediately, a smile spreading on her face as she let go of Niall’s hand, not at all scared to go and pet Louis’ dog where he was lying on the couch. “What’s his name?!”

“Clifford. You can go ahead and pet him, he loves that, he’s super nice.” He also looked super lazy, so that was a good thing because he wasn’t quite as small as Louis had described him to Niall. “I think he likes you.”

“Look, daddy.” The dog was already licking her hand and May was giggling, all happy now and Niall felt the small knot in his chest loosening immediately. Maybe today wouldn’t be as boring for May as he had feared. 

“How’s life?” Louis asked after a moment of them just watching May petting the dog and giggling at everything he did. God, Niall truly had the cutest kid.

“Good, actually. Yours?” Obviously Niall had allowed May to brag with the letter in school, maybe encouraging her a little too much just to spite those parents who hated him for it, but like… there was no harm in it, May was just happy. 

“Busy, but good. Did you figure out your problems from Monday?” The older man asked, luckily not saying anything in front of May that would have made her listen up and Niall kinda really appreciated that he sounded as if he truly cared somehow. 

“Kind of, yeah. I took your advice, I realized it’s not actually that deep and it doesn’t matter what some people think, so. Thanks.” Truly though, although Niall’s change of heart had more come from the encounter he had had with Liam, but Louis had still tried his best. 

“You’re welcome. I just love sharing my endless knowledge with the normal people.” He joked, laughing loudly when Niall rolled his eyes. “I didn’t know if it’s okay, but I also brought some cookies because m-“

“Cookies?” May turned around immediately upon hearing that word, and Niall kinda wanted to curse Louis, but then again, why the hell couldn’t they have cookies? Whatever.

“Yeah, I brought some, my mom made them for me when I visited her. You gotta ask your dad though if you can have some.” Louis quickly added the last part after throwing a look at Niall, still clearly amused over his facial expression. 

“You can, but not too many, okay?” In his mind, Niall was cursing Louis just a little, but mostly he was just happy that things had gotten a lot less awkward rather quickly, that May seemed to have already gotten over her sudden shyness. She wasn’t usually that shy in general, but it did happen of course because she was only 6 after all and even if she knew that Niall knew Louis, he was still a complete stranger to her. It’d be fine though, and maybe Niall would bring her along more often if it all worked well, it’d save him from having to find a babysitter after all. 

So they had some cookies and May asked Louis about his dog, like, every single question she could think of apparently, but the man seemed happy to answer all of them. May stayed with them in the room during the recording session of some band, alternating between lying on the floor and drawing, playing with Clifford and climbing onto Niall’s lap, asking a hundred things at once. She probably ate way too many cookies without Niall’s knowledge, but... it was only this one time, so he didn’t actually check.

“Daddy?” May asked in between recording sessions when Louis had gone to the bathroom or to answer a call or something, and Niall lifted May onto his lap when she come over to him. “Can I tell Louis about the letter?”

“If you want to.” To be honest, Niall was kinda surprised that she hadn’t said a single word about Liam yet, but she had only met Louis two hours ago, so maybe that was why. The last few days had kinda been filled with Liam and Niall had no idea how many times he had read that letter to May by now, but it seemed to have become a new bedtime ritual. A rather short one though, luckily. “Where did you put it actually?”

“Under my pillow.” She told him as if it was the most obvious place to put a letter. Maybe it was, Niall was just glad that she was still so happy with it, and with the whole bracelet situation, even though there hadn’t been any new pictures of Liam since then. Actually, there hadn’t been anything at all, and Niall decided it was a good thing because that also meant no new scandals. Though he kinda had a feelings those other parents wouldn’t come talking to him so soon again anyways. “But I put it into an envelope so it won’t get all crinkly.”

“That was a really smart decision.” Niall told her while brushing some hair out of her face. He had been requested to put her hair into braids this morning, but they were kinda coming loose now because she hated whenever he did them too tightly. “Do you like Louis?”

“He’s funny. And I like his dog.” Well, that was something, right? “When are we going home?”

“Soon, in an hour or so, okay? Are you bored?” May just shrugged as an answer, so Niall decided that it couldn’t have been too bad if she wasn’t complaining.

Louis came back a moment later, telling them that the next session was gonna be pushed back a few minutes because the guy had gotten stuck in traffic or something. So of course May kinda saw that as her cue to tell him about her favorite thing of all time.

“Louis?” She started, still on Niall’s lap, playing with the collar of his shirt and only briefly looking up at the man sitting in the other chair.

“Yes, May?” He asked, sounding very amused, probably because her voice had gotten all baby-ish like it did whenever she was nervous. It was really cute though, whenever she used it on Niall to ask for something, he always felt like it would have been a crime to deny her anything at all.

“Do you know Liam’s songs?” She obviously didn’t think it was necessary to use his last name, simply assuming that everyone knew who he was anyways, but in this case, it didn’t really matter.

“Liam Payne? Yeah, I know his songs, I like them. Do you?” Louis threw a look at Niall, but the other man just shrugged a little bit because he had no idea what else May was planning on telling him, but either way Louis didn’t know about the whole taxi story anyways because it’s not like he and Niall were friends just… colleagues, maybe.

“Yeah, they’re my favorite. Did you know that I met him?” May did look at Louis now, her face all excited, probably because she was really hoping to have him be all surprised and whatnot.

Luckily, Louis played along immediately. “No way! Did you really?”

“Yes, I even got two pictures with him. And he read my letter as well and he is wearing the bracelet that I made for him, I saw it on a picture.” She told Louis, all proud and happy and the other man pretended to be super shocked, although Niall wasn’t sure anymore whether it was still fake when she continued babbling on. “And he even wrote me a letter back because my daddy was driving him in his taxi a few days ago and then they talked about it. And he was still wearing my bracelet.”

“That’s amazing, I- wait, he was really in your taxi?” All of a sudden, Louis sounded surprised as hell, so Niall just nodded, trying to not turn it into a big deal right now. It hadn’t been, actually, just a weird coincidence. 

“Yeah, last Tuesday, I think? Actually right after I talked to you on the phone.” There was a moment of silence and Louis didn’t say anything, he was just staring at Niall until the younger man felt weird, but luckily May broke the silence.

“He also made a video for me where he said hello. Uncle Zayn took it for me.” Kinda funny really, how they had literally all met Liam in private, in such a short amount of time as well. “But he’s not my real uncle, I just call him that.”

“That’s awesome, May, wow, you’re so lucky, huh? I bet all your friends are super jealous of you.” Well…

“Some of them… but they don’t like Liam as much as I do.” No one did, Niall was pretty certain of that by now. At least within her age range. “Daddy, can you show him the pictures?”

So Niall ended up doing that upon her request, and then also the video when May asked him to, but the cropped version of course because she was obviously present. Louis kept on acting all surprised and impressed, asking her questions about it she was WAY too happy to answer, but Niall kinda had a feeling that there were a lot more things he wanted to ask. Or at least things that were on his mind because he seemed slightly distracted and Niall suddenly wondered whether it had been a good idea to like, show him that video and stuff because… he was a writer for a gossip magazine, would he just use the information and make up some story? But that would have been kinda illegal, right? And May was a child, he couldn’t use her as a source, could he?

Niall didn’t say anything though, he just watched it all unfold, trying not to interpret too much into Louis’ reaction. And they never really talked about it either because they had to work again and May was there the whole time of course and by the time they left, more than an hour had passed since the whole conversation so Niall had kinda forgotten about it, suddenly a lot more concerned with what he would make for dinner.

 

\--------------------

 

“Can I put the star on the top when we’re done?” Niall was a little freaked out about May carrying the ornaments through his mother’s living room, but he refrained from saying anything because she was clearly already being extra careful.

“Of course, sweetheart, who else would put the star on top?” Niall’s mother asked, making the little grin as she continued decorating the tree with her while Niall and his father were watching from the couch. He would have helped, but he had to decorate his own tree at home soon, so he would have rather saved his energy for that. “Did you already finish your list to Santa?”

“No, I still have to think about it. We always write one in school as well.” May explained, but Niall knew his mother had just asked her to give him a hint to go out and buy presents so she could do the same, but like… he hadn’t had the time yet. And he still had a week to do it, he’d be fine. Plus, he already had Liam’s autograph, May would have probably been grateful had he just given her that. “But I already got a present for daddy, but I can only tell you if he’s not listening.”

“I can cover my ears.” Niall told her across the room while his mother was leaning down so May could whisper it into her ear or something. She always gave him something she had made, usually a drawing or something they had made in school and it was probably Niall’s favorite part about Christmas ever since she was old enough to do that. Well, apart from seeing her excited face on Christmas morning of course. 

“Wow, I’m jealous, that is a great present, darling. Your daddy is gonna love that.” The little girl’s face lightened up upon the praise and Niall felt himself smiling, not even caring what it was that she had made for him because he would love it either way. “I should have asked you what to get him, you’re so good at picking presents.”

“Oh, I know what he needs. A new alarm clock.” Oh.

“I only overslept two times this week.” Niall threw in when his parents started laughing, probably because of how serious May had sounded. The thing was though, Niall had had an actual alarm clock, a pretty old one, but it had stopped working so then he had started using his phone like a normal person but it had as a consequence that he was also hitting snooze quite a lot, so… his daughter wasn’t actually lying. “We’ve never been late because of it.”

“Because I always wake you.” Okay, she had won.

“See? I don’t need an alarm clock if I’ve got you, you little bugger.” Niall told her as he got up off the couch, May already squealing a bit before he had even reached her, making sure she wasn’t holding an ornament though as he caught her easily to tickle her a bit as she laughed hysterically. “Let’s see if we can put that star on the top, yeah?”

“Okay!” May was full of energy today, probably because they had slept in quite a bit, but if not on a Sunday, then when? 

Though the tree wasn’t finished yet, Niall searched for the star in the box of ornaments, having a few flashbacks to when he had been a child himself and had been begging to put that star on the top of the tree each Christmas. And his father had only almost dropped him three times.

It actually took some time to get it right, because May’s arms were so short and the tree was kinda big, so Niall had to lift her really high and his father kept criticizing the position of the star from behind them on the couch, so by the time it was finally in the right place, Niall felt like his own arms were about to fall off and May didn’t look too amused anymore either.

“That looks great, good job.” Niall gave her a high five, briefly throwing a look at his father because he felt like he was about to complain again. Did it really matter in the end?! No one besides them would be seeing this damn tree anyways. 

So May and Niall’s mother went back to decorating the rest of the tree and Niall did help for a few minutes, but he was mostly just pretending to do it really badly on purpose just so his daughter had something to laugh. Decorating the tree at Niall’s parents’ house was a tradition they had had since 3 years now or something, ever since May had been old enough not to break absolutely everything and since they didn’t live with them anymore. 

The first year after she had been born up until she had almost turned two, Niall and May had still lived with his parents because he had been greatly overworked and stressed out and still tried to go to uni, but… it had become apparent very quickly that there was just no way he’d manage, with or without a child at home. Maybe that was why his parents had never really seemed disappointed when he had dropped out, they had probably been more shocked that he had even gone to uni in the first place.

Niall enjoyed hanging out at his parents’, but only hours at a time and not too often because although they had always gotten along because they were quite chilled, his mother had always tried to be a lot more involved in May’s life than Niall had liked. It was the one thing he had always wanted to manage on his own, raising his daughter, doing the best job he possibly could to give her the happiest life possible. She only had him after all, she was completely dependent on Niall and though she hadn’t been planned and her birth had forced him to re arrange every future plan he had ever made, Niall knew it had always been meant to be this way somehow. 

“So, how is your new job?” Niall’s father asked after Niall had once again given up on the decorations and joined him on the couch. “Your mother was quite worried it wasn’t a legitimate offer.”

“I know… but it’s actually a lot of fun, I’m learning a lot, and my boss is letting me do a lot of things on my own, he’s really nice. May has already met him as well, I brought her along yesterday.” Just to clear up any worries here though Niall wouldn’t have mentioned to either of his parents that he had never even signed a contract. Even if Louis threw him out though, it’s not like Niall couldn’t have found something else, so there was that. 

“And he has a dog, he’s really cute, his name is Clifford.” May threw in, dropping another ornament but it was plastic anyway. “And he talked with me about Liam.”

Obviously Niall’s parents already knew about the taxi story and the letter and though his mother’s opinion of Liam wasn’t a good one, she had seemed quite impressed also when May had shoved the letter into her face before. No one could deny that it had been a really nice thing for him to do. “That’s so nice of him. Do you like your daddy’s new boss?”

“Yeah, he was funny.” May just shrugged while Niall rolled his eyes at his mother’s interrogation, but she didn’t even look sorry.

“That’s good. You can also tell your daddy that you wanna come here when he has to go to work next time, just if you want to, so you won’t get bored.” She just couldn’t hold back, could she?

“But I like going to work with daddy.” The little girl told her immediately and Niall tried not to smile over it because he didn’t want his mother to be annoyed, she only meant well after all and he was really grateful that she babysat so often. “It wasn’t even a little boring.”

“Well, then I’m glad you had a good time, love… do you mind if I move this?” May did mind her moving the ornament, making Niall and his father laugh because she was clearly struggling to let May have the most say in how the tree was turning out in the end. 

Needless to say, quite cluttered with a couple of blank spots.

“Turned out amazing, I don’t think you should change anything about it.” Niall told his mother after they were done, literally having put EVERY single ornament on that poor tree.

“You’re only saying that because it’s not yours.” His mother told him with a sigh, quietly enough so May couldn’t hear her of course and Niall bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn’t burst out laughing. She wasn’t wrong though.

 

\-------------------------

 

The following week was more than stressful and it was also May’s last week of school before she’d be on Christmas break, something Niall looked forward to, but was also slightly worried about. Then again, he only really had to maybe go to the recording studio a few times and give a handful of guitar lessons, all things May could come along to, that’s why Niall purposely made sure to save his vacation days from the taxi company he worked for whenever May was off of school as well. 

On May’s last day of school, Niall had promised to take her to the cinema because they hadn’t been in ages and she had been begging to go, so he had thought why not do it as kind of a start to her break. But also a little because everyone would be going there around Christmas, and he preferred when there weren’t too many people.

“Did you enjoy the film?” Niall asked once they were walking out of the building and back to the car. They had come here right after May had gotten off of school, but it was already dark now even though it was only 5 in the evening or something. 

“Yes! And I really liked the popcorn, too.” She made sure to tell him, holding his hand quite tightly, which was good because there was a main street right ahead. 

“Better than the one I make at home?” Obviously.

“Umm… no, I like them both.” May quickly decided, probably not to hurt Niall’s feelings and the man appreciated it though it was probably his own fault for always burning it anyways. Their microwave was just shit but he didn’t wanna replace it yet because Niall was always a bit short of money, there was no nicer way to put it. 

When they got back home, Niall sent May to clean up her room a little before dinner, for the first time really checking his phone after turning it off so it wouldn’t go off in the cinema. Turned out that that had been a good idea because Louis had tried calling Niall three times. Oh god, hopefully there was nothing going on tonight, because Niall really didn’t feel like it.

“Hi, thanks for calling me back.” Louis had picked up almost immediately and Niall put him on speaker so he could move around the kitchen in the meantime. No matter what would happen tonight, Niall would still have to make dinner now and get May something to eat. “Sorry if I was disturbing you or something.”

“You weren’t, I just took May to the cinema so I had my phone on silent, sorry. Did anything happen, do you need me to come in?” He was Niall’s boss after all, Niall wasn’t going to complain to him about how he wanted to have a Friday night off. “I just have to make dinner for May, but after that I’m free. Or we are, because I’d have to take her as well.”

“No, no, don’t worry, it wasn’t about that at all, no one booked anything, I would have told you in advance.” Oh, thank god. “It’s actually something completely different.”

“Okay?” Niall asked, suddenly getting slightly nervous because like… what could it have been that was this important? Considering they barely knew each other and it apparently wasn’t about the studio?

“Is May somewhere around you?” What?

“Um, no, she’s cleaning her room, she can’t hear you if… if that’s what you were asking.” He was, right? At least it sounded quite like it. “Are you firing me?”

“I- Why would I fire you?! Did I make you feel like I would?” Louis honestly sounded kinda shocked, which was a huge relief to Niall even though it’s not like he was completely dependent on that job it’s just… getting fired right before Christmas and after spending money on May’s presents… it would have been inconvenient to say the least.

“No, I don’t know, I just thought maybe that was it because I couldn’t think of anything else. Sorry.” Niall quickly apologized after he had dropped a pot kinda loudly on the kitchen floor in the background.

“Are you cooking while talking to me?” Why did Louis sound so amused? Also, couldn’t he just say why he had called?! “You’re the most dad person I’ve ever met.”

“Probably because I’m an actual dad?” Niall asked sarcastically, deciding to just make some pasta because at least he could be sure May would eat it. “So, um… why did you wanna talk to me?”

“Right, so… you know how I told you that I interviewed Liam once and- are you okay?” Niall’s pot had wandered to the floor once again upon hearing that and he was cursing quietly, suddenly having gotten all nervous though because… what the hell was Louis about to tell him?

“I’m fine, yeah, no worries. What, uh, what about that interview?” Did he even want to know?

“So, like… I know how much your daughter likes him and everything and just in general I’m really glad that I hired you and I feel like we get along well and that it all works out great and May is a real sweet child and it’s Christmas and… I feel like I can trust you.” Um, what the hell? Had Harry been right? Was Louis about to announce his undying love for Niall or something?

“I… yeah, um, I think so too. About us getting along and stuff and… thank you?” What else was Niall supposed to reply to that, honestly? Louis was so bloody weird sometimes. Or always, considering they hardly knew each other. 

“I wasn’t lying when I said I interviewed Liam.” Why… why would Niall have thought so?

“Okay?” The younger man asked while looking through his pasta drawer, trying to decide which one he should have used because they were all kinda already opened. “I didn’t think you were, and even if… I’m not the one who’s a fan of him. I wouldn’t even know he exists if it weren’t for May.“

“Yeah, I know, I just… the reason I’m saying this is because I feel like you’re gonna be a bit upset when I tell you what I wanted to tell you. Or maybe not, I don’t know.” Could he just fucking say it then?! “Sooo… are you and May busy on the 27th?”

“I don’t think so, I’d have to check my calendar though… why?” Why was he asking about May if it was about a recording session?

“Because I kinda know Liam, like… not only from that interview.” One second… 

“What do you mean?” Suddenly Niall felt himself panicking slightly, making sure to check the living room before getting Louis of off speaker in fear of May suddenly walking out of her room.

“I mean, it wasn’t hard to get an interview because we’re friends. Like, me and him, so… I basically just showed up to his place and forced him into it when I wanted to impress my boss back then.” What the hell?!

“I… “ Honestly, what was Niall supposed to say about that? Like, he wasn’t upset, he was just… really shocked. 

“So anyways, I pulled a few strings or actually I just asked him and if you want to, you and May can come and watch him record something for-“

“Hold on, I… are you being for real?!” He wouldn’t dare fucking with Niall over this, would he?

“Yeah, of course. Look, I didn’t wanna tell you that I know him that well because… I mean, I don’t go around telling people that, as you can probably understand. But funnily enough he told me about the taxi thing and that bracelet, so… it was sort of his idea as well. So are you free? If you have to work somewhere that day I could also just take May and watch her, if you’d trust her with me.” This couldn’t be real? There was no way.

“No, I… I’m free or I… I’ll make sure I am. Louis, I… I don’t know what to say. Thank you, this is… “ Crazy? Stupid? Pointless? Whatever it was, Niall wasn’t going to say no of course, he would have never done that to May. 

“No worries, it’s really no trouble at all for anyone and if it makes May happy then that’s all that counts and- oh shit, can we talk about the details later? I just spilled tea over my entire couch.” And then Louis had already hung up, leaving Niall standing in the doorway of his kitchen with the pot of water overflowing somewhere in the background. What the hell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!!
> 
> sorry this is a little late, i was at the cinema!!! thank you so much for all the kudos so far, im so so happy so many of cou are enjoying this fic so far & i hope you all liked this chapter as well <3 thank you for all the comments too, theyre always so lovely and i get so happy when i see i got something in my inbox :) let me know your thoughts if you want!
> 
> i passed my exam on tuesday where i had my ao3 anniversary so i guess it really is a special day haha!


	4. Chapter 4

Niall decided not to tell May about it because after all, something could have gone wrong or gotten switched up, and he felt it was way better to keep her from getting all hyped up just to be disappointed again. 

In fact, Niall actually had some internal struggle after Louis had called him back a while later to discuss the whole thing in a bit more detail and obviously Niall told him thank you a hundred times and that they would definitely wanna do that. Right after ending the call though, the worries started to settle in, and they lasted throughout the next few days.

Niall tried not to think about it for a bit because there was a lot of distraction going on anyways, there was the weekend where they had to decorate the tree and Monday was Christmas Eve where May kept staring at the presents for so long that Niall finally gave in and let her open just one. And then of course Christmas day that they first spent at home to open presents and then at Niall’s parents’ house like always.

Despite everything May hat received from Liam, she was still so excited about the autograph as well and so grateful that Niall’s internal struggles only intensified. She was so happy and excited about everything having to do with him, but there had just been an overload this past month and… obviously, it wasn’t going to continue like that.

So was it really a good idea to make May like Liam even more by letting her meet him again? Of course Niall wanted her to be happy, but as a parent, he really had to ask himself the question of whether it wouldn’t have been smarter to stop feeding into this obsession so much when he knew there was nothing going to come out of it. Only temporary happiness that would eventually turn into even MORE disappointment.

On the other hand, he would have hated himself for not taking her, for simply keeping it a secret for… well, he’d have to keep it one forever. And there was no way he could have done that.

“Can you tell me your address again? I think I’m in the wrong street or something… “ Niall had picked up the phone immediately when Louis had called, somehow thinking he was gonna tell him the whole thing was off because there was just no way it was actually real, but turned out that that wasn’t the case.

“Wait.” Getting up to look out of the window, Niall could definitely see a car parked in front of the building that most likely belonged to Louis. “I can see your car, we’ll be down in a minute.”

“Um, okay. That’s really where you live?” The older man asked, sounding somewhat shocked and Niall simply rolled his eyes to himself, ending the call because he had other things to worry about right now.

“Come on, May, let’s go.” He had already put her shoes and coat on before so they’d be faster, but because all she knew was that they’d hang out with Louis today, her motivation wasn’t really at its highest. “C’mon, what’s wrong?”

“It’s cold outside. Where are we going?” The little girl whined a bit, but she did get up when Niall extended his arm so she’d take his hand, checking once again that he had his keys and everything before taking May’s car seat because Louis obviously didn’t have one. Fuck, Niall was going to die if all this was really true. 

“It’s a surprise, love, I can’t tell you just yet, okay? And you’ve got your new coat from Santa to keep you warm.” Probably her second most favorite present after Liam’s autograph, despite all the toys she had received from Niall and his parents as well. “Do you not wanna hang out with Louis?”

“I don’t know. I’d rather just stay home.” Understandable, it was kinda early in the day as well and especially for Christmas break, but at least Niall was 100% sure that his daughter would change her mind more than just soon. “Is he bringing his dog too?”

“I don’t think so, babe. I promise we’re gonna have fun though, okay? And tomorrow we can stay home and you can play with all your new toys, promise.” Not that she’d still be thinking about toys after today, Niall was pretty sure.

Everyone had told him he couldn’t have kept this opportunity from May, even his _mother_ , so that really said something. It seemed she had changed her mind a bit after that letter incident, but then again, maybe it was just because this was a huge deal and a once in a lifetime thing, like, it wasn’t like that Meet and Greet or whatever, it was literally… everything she could have possibly wanted, right?

Then why did Niall still kinda feel weird about it?

“Hi, guys.” Louis was in the best mood possible, getting out of the car immediately to take the car seat from Niall and put it into the back himself. “How was your Christmas, May? Did Santa get you a lot of presents?”

“Yes, he even got me a new coat, look.” She even spun around for him, so at least her mood wasn’t at its lowest. Or she was just really good at hiding it for a 6 year old.

“Wow, look at that, you’re so lucky. I bet what we’re doing today is almost gonna make you just as excited.” He knew May had no clue obviously, so Niall threw a warning glance at him that Louis simply ignored.

“What are we doing?” May asked when Niall buckled her into the seat before they all got into the car as well. It kinda made sense that Louis thought this was a bad area to live in if this was the kinda car he was driving. Then again, who was he to judge Niall really?

“It’s a surprise, sorry, I promised your dad I wouldn’t tell you until we’re there.” Louis told her as he started the car, throwing a kind of excited glance at Niall who just rolled his eyes again.

“Putting all the blame on me, huh?” He asked, making the older man laugh briefly as he shrugged because they both knew it was true. Louis had actually asked to tell May himself, like, days ago, but Niall had still not decided back then. 

“Don’t worry, May, the drive isn’t too long.” The reason why they were going with Louis was because he had told Niall there was no way he’d be able to park the car normally and that it’d just complicate everything if they had to meet somewhere outside and Niall honestly had no idea why because he didn’t really know how any of this worked. All he knew was that Liam was recording something for a radio show, but that was it, basically. 

The car ride wasn’t too bad, although that was probably just because Niall was so nervous that he could barely follow the conversation Louis had with May about all her presents and whatnot, but at least he was keeping her entertained because Niall wouldn’t have managed to act normally right now anyways. He didn’t even know why he was this nervous, he wasn’t worried anymore that Liam would be mean or like, not behave like Niall wanted him to, it was just… this whole thing felt too surreal to be true somehow. 

Louis parked the car in some garage that he apparently didn’t have to pay for, but then they still had to walk to another building and May was clearly unhappy about that because it was cold and it almost made Niall wanna laugh, to look at her face and realize how much she didn’t wanna do this because she had no idea what was going to happen.

Niall had never been to a radio station before and he probably also never would again after this was over, but at least it slightly sparked May’s interest. Or maybe she had seen a few of the fans outside very clearly waiting for Liam, to either arrive or leave, Niall didn’t know. Thank god May hadn’t said anything though because Niall kinda had different plans on how he wanted this to go down.

So it turned out that Louis wasn’t actually a liar because he did show his ID to someone and then they were being let inside and Niall could feel his nerves acting up again because fuck, how was this real? How had Louis really done this? How in god’s name had Niall started working for the one single person who could have made this possible? Like… what had the odds been?

“Daddy, I gotta pee.” They were walking to somewhere and Louis was greeting everyone who worked here as if he knew them all and to be fair… he probably did. What the hell?

“Um, I don’t know if-“

“Not a good idea.” Louis threw in after checking his phone and suddenly Niall also needed the bathroom. But to puke. “He’s already here, so… “

“Who?” May asked, holding Niall’s hand tightly because they were passing by so many strangers and he would have picked her up, but if Liam was already here… oh god. “I gotta pee.”

“Tell you what, I’ll just quickly introduce you to someone and then we’ll find a bathroom, okay?” Louis asked, all motivated and while throwing grins at Niall, but May only seemed halfway happy with that solution and Niall really just felt a bit light headed.

“Who? Do you have another dog?” May asked, probably referring to when Louis had said that exact same thing about introducing her and then showing her his dog. It was a little funny, Niall couldn’t lie, but he also didn’t really feel like laughing right now.

“Anoth- no. It’s a real person this time. A friend of mine.” Which, now that Louis said that, had still not manifested itself in Niall’s head. Just… how?

“Why does he wanna meet me?” A reasonable question. “Does my daddy know him?”

“Kind of, yeah.” Louis told her after a moment of hesitation, still walking a few more steps before stopping in front of a door and this was truly the moment, like, this was IT. “I think you’re gonna like him a lot.”

May didn’t say anything, she just held Niall’s hand more tightly, looking up at him with kind of a confused but also scared expression and he would have felt super bad had this situation genuinely been about her meeting some stranger. Then again, he would have never agreed to it in that case, and he would have probably quit his job and blocked Louis’ number.

The older man basically gave them no time to prepare themselves, or Niall more like, he simply opened the door without even bloody knocking, walking inside as if it was his own home or something. He truly and genuinely was the weirdest person Niall had ever met in his entire life. But apparently, also the most generous?

“What’s up, Payno?” Okay, the thing about them being friends clearly hadn’t been made up either, although it would have been quite weird at this point anyways. It was just, Niall was still in denial somehow. “Thought you’d make yourself a little more presentable today?”

The moment Niall kinda had to gently pull May with him inside the room was literally the moment the girl just froze, like on the stop, her grip around Niall’s hand so tight that it genuinely hurt. He couldn’t have blamed her though, because Liam was literally right fucking there, chilling on some couch with some other guy Niall assumed worked for him or whatever, and suddenly, it kinda felt like they were intruding.

Well, they WERE, but like… not on purpose.

Liam got up immediately though, a smile on his face as he ignored Louis’ comment, only briefly greeting him before his eyes were already on May. Who still hadn’t moved since walking in here and Niall would have been worried had he not himself felt a little freaked out. A little was probably still a vast understatement.

“I don’t think there’s a need to introduce you, right?” Louis asked, sounding quite amused about this whole situation. Maybe it could have been amusing to Niall as well in a few hours after this was all over, but he actually doubted that it was ever going to fully sink in. Like, he had no idea how this must have felt like for May to be face to face to Liam again when even to Niall it felt weird, mostly because he had been forced to look at so many pictures and videos of Liam in the past two years. And because this setting was completely different to the one at the concert.

“I don’t think so, we’ve met before, right, May?” Liam made himself a bit smaller as he came closer, briefly smiling at Niall though the other man couldn’t recall if he actually returned it or not. “How are you doing, love?”

May didn’t say anything at all, she was just staring like a deer in headlights and Niall was about to step in, do or say something to make her feel more comfortable, but luckily there didn’t seem to be a need for that. Though the little girl didn’t speak up, she did let go of Niall’s hand after another moment, simply going over to Liam like she had done already at the Meet and Greet.

It made Niall relax a little when she went to hug him again and his smile grew wider as he returned the embrace, this time picking her up with him immediately as he stood straight again, holding her easily. “Your daddy didn’t tell you I would be here, huh?”

“No, he didn’t...” May finally answered, very quietly and shyly though, differently than she had acted the two other times, but it was quite understandable. “You’re wearing my bracelet.”

“I am! Thank you again for making that for me, and for the letter you wrote me.” He was really animated when he spoke to her, probably because he was very used to talking to kids and Niall tried to tell himself to just fucking relax because it would all be fine. Still, he couldn’t help those few glances he threw at Louis, who looked close to bursting out laughing because of the face Niall was making probably. “Did you like my letter?”

“Yes, thank you… I have it under my pillow.” She told him with no shame, playing with her hair a bit instead of looking at him though. “My daddy reads it to me before I go to sleep.”

When she said that, Louis let out a laugh and Liam threw a somewhat apologetic look at Niall, so Niall just made himself shrug, not really knowing what to say and his throat feeling a little tight. “But you could already read it yourself, right? You’re really good at reading.” 

“And at writing as well.” Liam added on to what Niall had said and May looked really proud all of a sudden, finally looking at Liam at least. “I was so surprised when your dad told me you are only six years old after reading your letter.”

“Thank you… “ She was so cute it was pulling on every single one of Niall’s heart strings and he could tell Liam must have somewhat felt the same because of the way he was looking at her. Then again, she was just the cutest child ever, Niall didn’t take full responsibility for that or anything, it was just a fact. 

“You’re welcome, love. Did you have a good Christmas? What did Santa get you?” So they went over to having some small talk that helped Niall relax after a while, especially when Liam went to sit down again, still with May in his arms, but he put her on the couch next to him.

The other stranger in the room left at some point, seemingly unbothered by their presence because he was just cursing his phone upon walking out, closing the door quite loudly. Niall sat down as well, alternating between watching Louis eat random things in the room clearly not meant for him but Liam and May becoming more relaxed and babbling on about completely random things while Liam somehow managed to pretend it was the absolute most interesting stuff he had ever heard.

This whole situation was just… it seemed to go by so fast but Niall was sure they were in this room together for at least 20 minutes, if not even longer, and he did start to wonder at some point if Liam had come earlier just to spend more time with May, but… that would have gone a bit too far to simply assume that, right?

“… and my daddy says I can’t sing along to those words in your songs.” Yes, they did reach that stage in the conversation while Louis was over somewhere laughing his head off as May explained how they handled the inappropriateness of it all and Liam’s face was seemingly hard to keep under control and Niall turned red as hell. Then again, any responsible parent would have said that to their child.

“Your dad is right about that.” Liam simply told her, clearly holding back a laugh as well though but instead he looked at Niall. “Sorry ‘bout that, mate.”

“Uh, it’s fine. We have rules and… they work. Most of the time.” God, Niall’s fucking giggle was embarrassing as hell, he should have rather shut his mouth.

“Do they also work for all the naked shoots Liam does?” Louis threw in as he came over, eating an apple or something and Niall kinda wanted to punch him a little bit, but he now had to be grateful for him for the rest of his life, so that wasn’t going to work out so well. 

“Tommo… “ Liam started, throwing the most annoyed look at him and it was something Niall only really thought about now, like, the fact that they seemed to be really good friends, a lot closer than Louis had let on even when he had told Niall that they knew each other privately. Niall did know a lot about what members of Liam’s team looked like or his dancers, maybe a few friends, because May had been a fan for two years, but suddenly Niall wondered whether he had ever seen pictures of Louis as well and simply not remembered his face. Not that unlikely. “I’m sorry about him, it seems to be his life mission to embarrass me.”

“Don’t say that in front of Niall, he works for me, he can’t say anything back.” True. “I can’t wait for my best boss award when we’re back in the studio by the way.”

“Oh my god.” Liam leaned back against the couch, clearly having become more relaxed also as time had gone by and it seemed it was only Niall now who still felt a little weird in this situation. He had also spoken the least though, because this was about May after all, he was just here because she was 6 years old and he honestly didn’t trust Louis enough just yet to leave them alone. Not that she would have wanted that. “Oh, before I forget it, I brought something for you, May.”

So then came the moment May started loving Liam probably 100 times more than she already had, because if there was one thing she loved it was surprises and presents and he had _both_. First of all, Liam got her a hard copy of his new single that wasn’t even bloody out yet and that he had signed and as if that wasn’t enough, he had also gotten her a bracelet. God, why did he have to be so damn nice? Like beyond any expectations anyone had had?!

“I didn’t make it myself like you made this one, but I felt it was only fair to get you one as well.” It looked a little bit like the one she had made, color wise at least, and Niall was kinda afraid his daughter would burst out into tears again when Liam put it on her, but instead, she just stretched his arms out towards him.

“Thank you! It’s so pretty.” She told him when he hugged her back, half having to pull her onto his lap because they were still on the couch. “No one is ever gonna believe it’s from you.”

“Well, they don’t have to, right? You know it’s from him. Thank you.” Niall looked at Liam, trying to sound as sincere as possible because holy shit… he had really gone beyond to make her happy. 

“You’re welcome, no need to thank me, I’m glad I could do this.” He probably meant this whole meeting here and he truly sounded as if he meant it as well and… maybe he did, who knew? Maybe he wasn’t just a really good actor.

Liam did have to record something as well, which was the whole purpose of him being here in the first place, but when they came to get him, he simply took May with him, holding her hand and everything and Niall thought about taking a picture as he walked behind them, but then he didn’t because… privacy and all. He wasn’t actually sure if he was even allowed to talk about this whole experience, not like he would have gone online to post it anywhere. No one would have believed him anyways, so… 

The whole recording process didn’t last very long, he basically just gave an interview and May was so excited to watch that Niall was slightly afraid she’d actually pee her pants because they had never ended up going to the bathroom either. She didn’t say anything though, so Niall assumed she was fine.

When it was over, Liam remained sitting for a bit, motioning for May to come over and he pulled her onto his lap, letting her put on the headphones and showing her everything and it was honestly… too good to be true. Like, what the hell, was Niall dreaming? More like dreaming May’s dream for her, but still?

“How do you know him?” Niall asked Louis when he came back with more food, leaning against the wall next to him as Niall watched Liam and May, and the radio host because he seemed more than happy to entertain her as well.

“Liam?” Louis asked between bites, waiting for Niall to nod as if it wasn’t obvious enough. “I know him since we were kids.”

“Um, what?” Was he being serious right now?! 

“Yeah, my parents moved and I failed a class actually and then I went to the same school as him and blahblah. So, yeah.” The older man simply shrugged, as if it wasn’t even a big deal, as if he hadn’t fucking told Niall he only knew Liam from ONE interview. “You’re not that good of a stalker if you’ve never seen me with him before.”

“I’m not a stalker? Do you think I show May every single picture of him that comes out? She’s only allowed to look at his Instagram once every few weeks.” A little more often lately, but… 

“That’s a strict parent.” Louis laughed briefly while Niall just rolled his eyes, still letting that information sink in because… what the fuck? Had he really started working for Liam’s best friend without even bloody knowing about it? “To be fair, I hardly ever visit him on tour and there really aren’t a lot of pictures of us. I don’t want my face all over his Instagram although he loves a good selfie. But you probably already knew that, you’re like, a super fan kind of.”

“I’m not even a fan.” Could he stop, oh god. “I do all this for May, and I think his songs are decent and he’s a good person. But I only really know that since he wrote that letter for her… I mean, I don’t _know_ it, but from what I’ve seen… obviously it makes more sense now considering he’s your friend, so.”

“So it’s not worth anything anymore?” Louis let out a laugh as Niall rolled his eyes because seriously?!

“That’s not what I said. Or meant. I mean, obviously he’s doing all this because he’s your friend, he’d be crazy to do that for random fans.” Not meaning that he wasn’t a good person or anything, it was more than understandable actually and it didn’t make Niall any less grateful. “So, thank you again, you’re really making her… entire life or something. At least the next few years where she’s still into him because I do hope it’s gonna stop at some point.”

“Well, you’re welcome, it wasn’t any trouble. And it was sort of Liam’s idea, I mean, I didn’t tell him to get a CD and the bracelet thing, I didn’t even know about it.” Was he lying though? Niall would probably never find out about it. “Who knows, maybe I’m just doing all this so you won’t be able to quit your job.”

“Why would I quit though? And why would you be so keen on keeping me anyways? I’m not even qualified.” There was no need for Niall to pretend or hide with Louis, because he knew all of that of course, he just didn’t seem to mind it. 

“I never thought anyone qualified would apply for this job, I just wanted someone who wasn’t an absolute creep and who’d actually do what I’m telling them. And you’re learning from me and stuff, so you fit the job perfectly, you exceeded my expectations so I’d really not want you to quit because I can’t do it on my own.” He sounded quite serious, which was a little weird considering Niall hadn’t really done all that much, but… he wasn’t gonna complain obviously.

“Um, thank you...and I won’t quit, no worries.” The younger man answered after a moment, still caught up with watching Liam and May but at the same time trying to concentrate on Louis’ words because it did seem as if they were coming from his heart. Somehow. “Now I know why you didn’t put your name in the job ad. Some die hard fans surely know who you are.”

“I guess, but that’s not really the reason, I just kinda forgot because I was in a hurry. I doubt any fans of Liam would have applied in hopes of getting close to him, as I said… it’s not like there are many pictures of us together or anything, I’m not so keen on getting dragged into all this. I was only joking before by the way, what I said about you not being a good stalker. I didn’t wanna insult your talent.” He was joking again, and Niall let himself laugh briefly because he couldn’t keep on pretending to be annoyed anymore. 

“So Liam can’t send you all his famous buddies to come record at your studio then?” Because like, if Louis was THAT close to him… 

“Maybe if you suggest it to him. It’s kinda also your responsibility now.” True, but also not because Niall had worked there for like a month, so… he didn’t even have a contract. And he doubted he’d ever get one either. “Maybe ask May to do it, then he can’t say no.”

“She would totally do it though.” She had warmed up so quickly to Liam it was crazy, but then again, it really wasn’t considering for how long she had liked him, he had never really been a stranger. At least not in her eyes. “She’s gonna be so sad when we leave, I’m already scared of when the breakdown is gonna come.”

“Well, good thing you’re working for me then, right?” Louis probably meant it, in that very moment, his face completely serious when Niall threw a look at him.

“I’m really, really grateful for all this, but… I’m still not sure if it was a good idea we’re doing this. It’s not gonna change anything in the end, she’s just gonna start liking him more and more. She gets attached to people pretty easily.” And it wouldn’t go anywhere and one day it’d have to stop anyways, so it would have been easier to just rip the band aid off as quickly as possible. And it would have hurt a lot less doing it before today had happened, but it was too late to think about that now.

Before Louis could answer, May was suddenly coming running over to them, again going on about needing the bathroom, so this time, Niall didn’t hesitate to take her. She was a little afraid Liam would be gone after she was done and of course she just kept on talking about him, making Niall slightly nervous, but he tried to get it together for her, just deciding to wait and see how this would unfold because it’s not like he could have changed anything about it. 

Everyone was still there, but they had gone back to the room they had originally been in and Liam spent a few more minutes talking to May, being as sweet and attentive with her as before and Niall knew it was coming, but he was still a little afraid when they had to start saying goodbye. Like, they had been here for long enough, so much longer than Niall would have ever thought, but he had no idea how May was feeling about it.

“I’m so glad I got to hang out with you today and that you came to watch me.” Liam had gotten down onto her height, not hesitating to hug her back because of course she wrapped her arms around him again and Niall was just hoping she wasn’t crying because he couldn’t see her face when the other man picked her up one last time. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah… thank you for the bracelet. And the CD.” She told him, her voice sounding a little sad though but maybe that was just Niall’s imagination playing him a trick. He was honestly just happy in this moment that his daughter hadn’t forgotten her manners. Even if she was maybe being a little too clingy latching onto Liam like that, saying what she said. “You know I love you the most after my daddy. And my granny and grandpa.”

Harry and Zayn would have probably been quite upset hearing this, but they weren’t here, so Niall didn’t really care about that, all he really cared about was rather the fact that this was only complicating things further and maybe Liam knew that too because he threw the quickest look at Niall before answering. He wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath of this day, so he probably didn’t care too much, which was understandable. 

“Well… “ Liam started, smiling at her when she looked up and Niall could finally see her face properly. No tears so far, that was good. “I love you too, and I’m really happy I got to meet you. Sometimes those interviews are a bit boring but you definitely made it a lot more fun to get up so early.”

“Really?” The thing was, she was so happy about every single thing Liam told her, he could have been lying about absolutely everything, it wouldn’t have even mattered.

“Really. And you gotta give your dad a real big hug for bringing you here today, okay? And for taking you to my concert as well.” More like for paying for it, but obviously Liam wouldn’t have said that to a child.

“He enjoyed it too, he just doesn’t wanna admit it.” May sounded so serious when she said it, as if it was the truth, and Niall felt his cheeks getting hot as hell for no particular reason, he just made sure to clear his throat and ignore the look he was certain Louis was throwing at him. 

“I think you’re right.” Liam laughed, so Niall made himself smile at least, not saying anything though.

The whole saying goodbye process took a little longer, but Niall made sure to shake Liam’s hand when he offered it to him, saying thank you a few too many times because the other man was just grinning at him at some point, so Niall took it as a clue to shut the hell up. May was kinda alright when Liam had left, she was also still fine when they were walking back to Louis’ car because she still had to process what had happened, still wanted to just go on and on about it.

Even on the drive back and when Niall told Louis it’d be alright if he came upstairs with them because like, he had done all this for May and they were kinda friends, the little girl still seemed to be happy as ever and Niall kinda started hoping that she’d be able to keep on being this cheerful about it, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. Reality had had to set in after all.

“Daddy?” May had stayed in her room for a bit after Niall had briefly showed Louis the flat before sitting down with him in the living room, talking about something work related because Louis had just gotten a call from someone wanting to come in in a few days.

“Yes, love?” Maybe Niall shouldn’t have been surprised upon seeing her mood having gotten worse, and he wasn’t really, he was just frustrated with himself because he had let this happen. “Everything okay?”

The girl didn’t answer, she just came over to where he was sitting on the couch, getting up on it next to him before proceeding to half climb onto his lap so she could whisper into his ear while Louis pretended to be busy with his phone. Maybe Niall shouldn’t have asked him to come upstairs, but… he hadn’t really thought anything of it. And he kinda also hadn’t expected May to have her little meltdown so soon after.

“Am I never gonna see Liam again now?” She was whispering into Niall’s ear, but he was pretty sure Louis heard it as well, luckily not saying anything about it though. As far as May was concerned, Louis barely knew Liam and she also didn’t know that they were friends because Niall had thought it’d be best not to let her in on that. It would have only opened too many possibilities in her head. 

“You know what we talked about? Before we went to see him at his concert?” Niall asked, internally praying that she wouldn’t start crying now because his heart wouldn’t have been able to take it. 

May nodded, making herself more comfortable in Niall’s arms, half lying across his lap while leaning against the pillows next to him, playing with the bracelet Liam had given to her. In retrospect, it hadn’t been a good idea to do that, but how could Niall have been upset now? Liam had clearly tried hard to make her happy. “But that was different… “

“You’re right. But you know he’s a celebrity and how lucky you are that you met him so many times and that he was so nice to you and even gave you presents. There’s no need to be sad, bug.” But she was and it was Niall’s fault, she had been happy with the letter and the Meet and Greet, but now… 

“I’m not sad… “ She half whispered, though it was quite obvious she was and Niall suppressed a sigh as he brushed some hair out of her face before kissing her forehead. “I’m just gonna miss him… “

“I know, love.” There was nothing else Niall could have said and it was kind of really breaking his heart. He knew she’d get over it eventually, he just hated having to watch her go through it with nothing smart to say to make it better, especially with Louis sitting right there pretty much with all the power in his hands. But Niall wouldn’t have let him do anything else even if he had offered. “Hey, we haven’t even listened to that song yet, have we? Do you wanna go and get it?”

“Okay.” May seemed somewhat alright after Niall had kissed her cheeks a few times and put her down, going off to her room where she had taken the CD, her mood still seemingly low though.

“You know… I could a-“

“Please don’t.” Niall interrupted Louis as soon as May was gone because he already knew what he was about to say, and he honestly didn’t even wanna hear it because it would have only put him back into the same situation all over again. “I’m really thankful for what you did, I don’t take it for granted, but I don’t think it’d be a good idea to repeat it.”

“I know, I just… I didn’t wanna make it all worse. Or make her sad, I just thought… “ Louis shrugged, obviously conflicted and probably surprised over May’s reaction. Which made sense, because he barely knew her, and he had no kids himself, so… 

“You made her the happiest she’s ever been, and she’s going to be just fine, she’s 6 years old. Tomorrow everything is gonna be different again, no worries.” Hopefully, because Niall had no idea what to do if that wasn’t the case.

They listened to Liam’s new song on Niall’s laptop and May got a bit more excited again, asking Niall to replay it around 50 times or something and usually he would have probably turned it off after a while, but just because he was terrified of her having a real meltdown, he didn’t today. And Louis just had to deal with it, but it was honestly his own fault for only leaving around 2 hours later.

 

\--------------------

 

A while passed since that day, New Year’s eve came and went, May went back to school and they fell back into their usual routine pretty quickly after the holidays were over and the new year had started, for which Niall was kind of glad. Things weren’t perfect, but they were fine, May eventually got over her sadness about probably never seeing Liam again and Louis stopped mentioning it at work as well, so after a while, it stopped being a daily or even a weekly topic.

Louis let Niall do a lot more in the studio by himself and all of Niall’s other jobs were kind of going pretty well also, May was still doing really well in school and none of the parents complained to Niall again, so actually, things couldn’t have gone better. Well, they could have, but there had definitely been times where they had gone so much worse and Niall had had money struggles and all that fun stuff, so he was just grateful for the way his life was at the moment.

On the first weekend in March, Louis kind of apologetically told Niall that he had forgotten about letting him know that there was a kind of late booking on Saturday that he couldn’t attend because he was visiting his family or something, which he couldn’t cancel apparently, so Niall would have to jump in or they’d have to reschedule. Because Niall’s mother had asked him to let May sleep over for a while now, it was kind of a little convenient because in all honesty, Niall didn’t really enjoy being home alone anyways.

So he told Louis it was no problem, even though it was kind of the first time he’d do it all on his own, but he had learned a lot those past 2 months, so Niall felt confident going in, even more so when the two guys who wanted to record turned out to be quite horrible musicians. Plus, they didn’t know Niall wasn’t really qualified and had spent the rest of the day driving a taxi, so they couldn’t complain, right?

By the time they had left it was 10 pm and Niall wasn’t that tired, so he started tidying up the place a bit, taking out the trash because Louis never did it anyways and it was overflowing with empty coffee’s to go and empty packages of snacks May had eaten in here and whatnot. The studio itself wasn’t actually that cramped because no one was ever in here for very long and obviously Louis didn’t keep any important stuff in here either.

Still, it was kind of comfortable on the couch and Niall was about to go home, but then Harry texted him about some Email from a client and Niall got out his laptop to check and make use of the fast Wi-Fi Louis had gotten in here a while ago and time passed without him really noticing. It was rare that he had nowhere to be and didn’t have to rush, so it felt kind of nice.

Because Niall had in one earphone listening to some song at the same time, he didn’t pay any attention at first when he heard a noise, thinking it had just come from outside or something, but then he clearly heard the front door shut and his heart skipped a beat. It was probably just Louis though, he surely wouldn’t care if Niall was still in here.

Somehow though, Niall decided not to say anything yet, he just closed his laptop and took his phone, taking out his headphones as he slowly walked across the room towards the hallway where someone was clearly making noise with their keys. It was probably stupid as fuck, but Niall almost thought about calling the police when he stepped around the corner, looking at someone that obviously wasn’t Louis.

“Holy shit!” The person flinched just as hard as Niall and it actually took a few seconds of them just staring at each other with shocked expressions for it to slowly sink in. “Why are you working at 11 pm?”

“Why do you have keys?” Niall shot back, not even mad or upset or anything, he simply felt adrenaline from before and well… he hadn’t expected to see Liam Payne upon walking around the bloody corner. Who would have?! 

“Louis gave them to me?” Well… Niall could have guessed that, right?

“Right, uhm… Louis is also the reason I’m still here, there was a late session and I got caught up and… anyways, um… “ This was weird, also, Niall didn’t owe Liam an explanation, did he? And neither did the other man because Louis was the one paying rent. “I was… I was about to go home anyways, so… sorry for scaring you.”

“It’s fine, ‘s not your fault anyways… “ Liam shrugged a bit and at first Niall hadn’t really noticed because he had just been trying to get over the fact that it was Liam Payne, but upon looking a bit longer at him, it was obvious that something was up. Like, the whole fact that he was here was kind of an indicator as well, but like… he looked a bit rough as well. As far as Niall could judge.

For a second, he thought about saying something, but then he didn’t, simply turning around to go and get his stuff and just forget about this strange encounter. Liam hadn’t been on his mind lately because May hadn’t really talked about him all too much, which was a good thing, so Niall wouldn’t tell her about this either. He had kinda been hoping they’d finally move on from this whole obsession, so seeing Liam right now… it felt more than just random.

“Listen, uh… “ Niall flinched again when he heard Liam speaking up behind him as he was busy packing away his stuff, trying not to do it too quickly because he really didn’t wanna forget anything and have to come back. “Maybe… maybe we can keep this between us?”

“Okay. Sure.” Niall didn’t care, who would he have told besides Louis? 

“Okay.” Liam agreed as well, neither of them saying a word anymore until Niall turned around with his backpack slung around one shoulder, the other man still standing in the doorway, obviously uncomfortable. Well, he wasn’t the only one. “How’s May?”

“She’s good.” Niall answered, more than surprised that Liam even still remembered him or his daughter, let alone her name. “She’s having a sleepover at my parents’ house tonight, so… “ 

“That’s nice.” The other man nodded a bit, clearly not that interested and Niall wished he would have just stepped out of the way so he wouldn’t have to either awkwardly stand there and wait or squeeze past Liam. Why did it seem as if he didn’t even want Niall to leave? As if he was somehow trying to keep him here but didn’t know how except with weird ass small talk? 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her about this.” Niall didn’t know what else to say, also, he was pretty sure Liam wouldn’t have cared, he just wanted to signalize that the conversation was over. He wasn’t annoyed or anything, he just felt weird.

“Thanks, um… “ Liam cleared his throat, seemingly confused as to why Niall had just said that because a 6 year old knowing about this encounter wouldn’t have changed anything. “I mean… I don’t care if you do, so… “

“Okay.” Now Niall felt stupid and god knew why, but his brain really wasn’t working that well right now and it was in the middle of the night so maybe what he said next wasn’t completely inexcusable. “You’re kinda old news to her now anyways.”

“Oh?” The other man pulled up his eyebrows, probably sensing that Niall was only joking though. 

“Yeah, she already moved on. We’re now buying paw patrol plushies instead.” Which they had to be fair, and it would have also been more age appropriate and Niall’s life would have been easier had that been her obsession instead.

“Well, I gotta admit that hurts, but it’s understandable. And you probably enjoy the songs a lot more?” There was a smile pulling in the corner of his mouth and Niall let out a laugh as he nodded, rearranging his backpack because it was slipping. “Then I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” God, why was Niall still here? “Well, I should probably go… “

“Yeah… “ So finally Liam moved away from the doorway, really slowly though and to be honest, Niall wasn’t too surprised when he opened his mouth again. “You have a car, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Did he want Niall to drive him somewhere, because that would have gone way beyond strange. 

“Just asking, I… I wouldn’t want Louis’ only employee to get jumped on the bus or something.” Oh.

“I’ll be fine, no worries.” Niall made some weird movement with his hand as he slowly walked into the hallway and past Liam, giving himself a tiny push as he turned around one more time. “Are you?”

“Am I what?” Liam looked confused and Niall wanted to punch himself in the face. 

“Gonne be okay, I mean.” Because honestly, it didn’t look like it. At all. Why wasn’t he home?!

“Oh. Of course, yeah.” He was lying and they both knew it, but then the moment passed and Niall said goodbye, walking out of the front door and actually taking a few steps down the sidewalk before he stopped, experiencing an internal struggle.

It’s not that he desperately wanted to know or that he even cared what Liam was doing at the studio in the middle of the night or why he looked so fucked up, it was more the fact that he clearly hadn’t wanted Niall to leave. And no, Niall wasn’t vain enough to think it was actually about _him_ , but probably because the other man simply didn’t actually wanna be alone. So now Niall felt like shit because Liam’s fame and all that stuff aside, he was Louis’ friend, and Louis was Niall’s friend and… it was 11 at night, Niall had nowhere to be.

So before he could have changed his mind, he turned around and walked back into the studio. 

“Look, you can tell me if you want me to leave and I will, but are you really- oh.” Because Niall had unlocked the door so quickly and had walked back inside without waiting for the door to fall closed behind him, Liam obviously hadn’t had time to prepare himself. Or to wipe his tears. “Sorry, I’ll just-“

“No, it’s fine.” Liam interrupted immediately, quickly wiping over his face but it only made things a lot worse. He was sitting on the couch now where Niall had been sitting before, phone in his hands. 

“Do you… do you wanna talk about it?” Probably not with Niall, but the younger man couldn’t help but immediately feel the need to help and maybe it was because he had a daughter, but he almost felt embarrassed about how strongly his paternal feelings were kicking in seeing Liam cry. “Or I could call Lou-“

“God, please don’t.” The other man immediately answered, still wiping his face and not saying anything else though so Niall hesitated for only a moment before going to sit in the spinning chair, dropping his bag on the floor, a little unsure when Liam let out a strangled laugh. “It’s stupid. And this is weird as hell.”

“Yeah. Should I leave?” Honestly, he wasn’t sure if his body would have allowed him to leave.

Liam shrugged but he was also shaking his head at the same time, seemingly conflicted on the inside, which was quite understandable. But it didn’t make this whole situation any less weird.

“Usually it gets better when you say it out loud.” At least if you were 6 years old.

“Is this what you tell your daughter?” Liam asked with half a smile, but it looked a little forced honestly.

“Yes.” Niall admitted before moving to sit on the couch instead because what the hell. “But I think it applies to everyone. Although I can understand if you don’t wanna tell me, if it’s something… something secretive or whatever. I can only promise that I won’t tell anyone and… I only came back because you’re Louis’ friend.”

There was no answer and Liam seemed to take time to process the other’s words, maybe thinking about whether he could trust him or not, and apparently, he came to the conclusion that he didn’t care anymore, about anything, because Niall had no other explanation for what he said. “I think I’m having a mental breakdown.”

“Why?” Was this insensitive to ask? But what else would Niall have said? God, what if this was really serious?! “Should I call someone? I can also drive you to the hospital, or-“

“What? Why would y- No, it’s fine, I didn’t… sorry, I made it sound slightly dramatic.” Oh, thank god. “I… I did a few things. Pretty stupid things for someone like me. Like, I don’t wanna sound arrogant or anything, I just mean- anyways, um… ”

“What did you do?” Did Niall even wanna know? What if he had killed someone? 

“I-“

“Wait, was it illegal?” As much as Niall wanted to help, he had a daughter and he kinda didn’t wanna go to jail for Liam if he was being completely honest. 

For a moment, Liam just stared at him before slowly shaking his head, actually letting out a laugh then as he rubbed his hands across his face, letting himself fall back against the couch. “I can tell why you and Louis get along.”

“Doesn’t sound like a compliment somehow.” Sounded more like Liam actually thought Niall was crazy or something, but the younger man didn’t really care because he wasn’t the celebrity having a mental breakdown in front of a stranger at 11 pm, was he? “So, what did you do? It can’t be that bad or I would have gotten yelled at by some angry mothers.”

“What?” Right, they really needed to stop getting so off topic.

“Nothing. What did you do?” Maybe Niall sounded a little strict now, but he didn’t care anymore, Liam just needed to finally spit it out. 

“Um, I… “ Liam started, looking away from Niall as if he was embarrassed. He probably was. “I slept with a whole bunch of people and I’ve been getting drunk at least 3 times a week and my last single flopped and I think I gotta cancel my tour because my manager thinks I need a mental health break which is basically code for he’s done with my shit.”

Right. Niall really hadn’t wanted to know any of that.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” He looked a bit shocked himself honestly, as if it had all just come out without him even planning on it. “Maybe I should just go.”

“Um, where?” Not the nicest or smartest thing to say, but Niall needed a bit to process all this because… what?! 

“Home. Or maybe to my parents-“

“Don’t they live hours away?” Perks of knowing Liam’s entire life story.

“Yeah. But who cares? I could drive through the night and-“

“No, you can’t, not like this, it’d be pretty damn irresponsible.” Niall simply told him, trying to hide his shock and instead pretend as if Liam was just a friend, a friend with normal problems that needed to be fixed. Or maybe better, a child throwing a tantrum, because Niall was a lot more experienced with that. “I wouldn’t let you.”

“Well, it’s not y-“

“It is. Listen to me.” Clearly no one ever talked to Liam like this and clearly he really hadn’t expected Niall to either because he immediately shut up and closed his mouth, seemingly taken aback. “Everything will be fine, but you gotta do something about this. You gotta stop sleeping with strangers and you gotta stop getting drunk and if you feel like you’re losing it or having a breakdown, you have to talk to talk to someone about it. Nothing is going to solve itself by driving to a random studio in the middle of the night and hiding away from whoever or whatever you’ve done.”

“But-“

“Liam, you’re crazy successful, you obviously know how to sell yourself and your music, just because one single flopped you’re gonna give up or what? Get a new manager then if yours sucks, it’s not like you can’t afford it, right? It’s not like people aren’t waiting in line to work with you. If everything sucks then change it.” Honestly, maybe Niall wasn’t being very sensitive right now, but he felt like Liam really needed someone to just slap him across the face. Which Niall wouldn’t do of course, so this was the closest thing he could think of, give him a reality check. “Unless you really need a mental health break, then take one, but find someone to talk to. Like, a specialist I mean.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.” Liam admitted after a moment of just staring at Niall and closing and opening his mouth three times in a row. “I don’t wanna take a break, I just… things have been getting out of control lately and… I just… it’s been getting to me. And… I haven’t really told anyone about it all. Except you right now.”

“What happened, happened, you can’t change it anymore anyways, so stop beating yourself up over it. All you can do now is try to make everything better from tomorrow onwards, but there’s no use in crying about it now.” Well, maybe there was if it made him feel better, but Niall wouldn’t have known what to do if Liam had started crying again.

“Why… why do I feel like you’re telling me the same things you tell your daughter when she had a rough day at school?” Fuck.

“Because I am.” Niall admitted after a second, and he almost wanted to join when Liam laughed, but he didn’t just wanna allow him to switch the topic because he was clearly trying to do exactly that. “Are you really having a mental breakdown?”

“Probably not, I don’t know… “ Liam sighed, his face falling again as he rubbed his eyes before playing with his fingers. “Before I came here, I… I was actually gonna go out, with some friends, and I would have probably gotten completely smashed again and hooked up with someone and… and I told myself I wouldn’t tonight, but I also didn’t wanna stay home because chances were I would’ve just gotten drunk there, so… so I came here because I didn’t know where else to go… “

“Well, see? You managed to keep it together tonight and say no, that’s already an accomplishment.” Or maybe not, if whoever he had slept with and whoever had seen him completely smashed talked about it in public, but… Niall didn’t wanna be so negative. “… sorry if I sound really patronizing.”

“It’s alright. I probably needed someone to tell me all that, so thank you.” Liam sounded somewhat serious when he thanked Niall, which was a little bit of a relief because Niall hadn’t really thought that his little speech would actually help Liam. “I mean… I can’t just drop my manager, but… “

“Yeah, please don’t ruin your life over what I just said because I have no idea how any of this works.” Suddenly Niall panicked a little, like, Liam was desperate and probably not thinking clearly right now. “Maybe you should just sleep over it. And talk with someone who’s more informed.”

“Maybe… “ The other man agreed, nodding a bit to himself before looking at Niall once more. “You’re right though. I need to stop crying about it and just get myself together because it’s not like anything really bad has happened so far. Except that song, but… it’s just one song. And the people I hooked up with signed an NDA.”

“That’s… comforting.” What the hell? “You’re not gonna make me sign one, are you?”

“It’d be a bit too late for that.” Liam laughed again, briefly, as if this whole situation was somehow amusing and maybe it was. Just a little. “No, but seriously… thank you. For coming back most of all.”

“I’m just glad if I could help. I don’t know if you can do anything with my advice because I have no insight, but… I think you’ll be fine. You’ve gotten this far already, you’re not just _someone_.” It was true, like, putting it all in perspective, it kinda seemed impossible that Liam’s career would just be over in a few weeks or something. Things were probably just getting to his head a little lately, which seemed quite understandable to Niall, even if he couldn’t really relate to Liam in any way.

“Yeah… I am just someone though. I just had more luck than others.” Well, to be fair… maybe that was true, a little bit at least. 

“Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it, you wouldn’t have gotten so far with just luck. So don’t ruin it with alcohol and groupies, okay? Everyone goes through difficult times sometimes, you’ll be fine.” Hopefully.

“Thank you.” The older man told him again and Niall quickly turned his head when their eyes met again because Liam’s stare was a bit too intense for his liking somehow. “Please don’t tell Louis about any of this.”

“I won’t, I promise… maybe you should tell him though. I’m sure he could probably help you a lot better than me.” He had known Liam since forever AND he was involved in the business himself, so his advice was probably worth a lot more.

“Maybe… I mean, he knows about a few things, like the drinking and stuff, but… yeah. I’ll think about it.” Then there was silence for a few moments, not an uncomfortable one though like before, but Liam broke it anyways before it could have gotten weird. “It’s quite random that we met.”

“Tonight?” Niall had to agree though, it almost felt like too much of a coincidence.

“In general. Like… when I got into your taxi as well. And the fact that you started working for Louis… “ Had Niall not known better, he would have thought Liam was about to suggest Niall was a crazy fan or something who had planned all this, but he was right about it all being quite random and strange. “And it’s been over two months since you and May came to the radio station.”

“Yeah… “ Seemed like Niall couldn’t get away from Liam even when May stopped talking about him 24/7. “I can’t believe you still remember that. Or me and May.”

“I’m not that forgetful and I don’t do things like that every day… plus, you work for Louis, so… “ Right, that was true. “He mentions you once a while.”

“Why?” What the hell?!

“Don’t know, just randomly. I mean, you guys are friends, right? That’s what it sounds like at least.” Well, they kind of were, Louis had come over a few times, and they had once gone out to have a drink together and they spent quite a lot of time here, so… maybe Niall shouldn’t have been so surprised. 

“I mean, yeah, we are.” He agreed after a moment, clearing his throat a little as he tried to think about something smart to say right now. Instead, he just ended up saying the dumbest thing ever. “So if you ever need more super good advice then you know how to reach me.”

“I might come back to that.” At least Liam was able to laugh over that very bad joke, even if it made Niall’s face a little hot, but then again… what were the odds of them meeting again after this night? There was no way they would keep running into each other anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :)
> 
> it somehow feels like ages since i updated, this week has been the busiest one ever i feel like haha. i already finished and edited this chapter last weekend, so i actually had to skim over it to remember what happened haha! let me know your thoughts, i really hope you enjoyed it :D and theres a lot more niall and liam encounters to come, no worries ;)
> 
> also, i just wanted to let you guys know that there wont be an update on friday the 8th february because im going to new york (first time ever im going to the us for longer than 1 day so im really excited!), so instead i'm going to upload the 6th chapter on the 3rd of february (so just two days after the 5th chapter!) and then the schedule continues normally onwards from the 15th! i also put it in the description and ill remind you guys again next week (and on sunday haha)!
> 
> once again i also wanna say thank you, like genuinely, because so many of you seem to enjoy this story and i really enjoy writing it, im already working on chapter 6 right now because i cant stop! so thank you for all the support & the comments and whatnot and i hope you have a lovely week <3


	5. Chapter 5

They stayed talking for a whole while longer, Niall thought about leaving multiple times, but he kinda stopped checking the clock and his phone, deciding that he didn’t actually care. He had nothing to do tomorrow except clean the flat and pick up May from his parents at some point, make dinner and stuff, the usual. Still a relaxing day compared to the rest of the week, but then again, he’d probably also be a lot more tired because he rarely ever went to bed after 10 pm.

The thing was though, Liam was easy to talk to, and he didn’t seem to care how late it was either or as if he wanted to leave or wanted Niall to leave him alone. So honestly, Niall would have felt bad had he just gotten up and walked out of that door, like, who knew what Liam was going to do then once he was alone, now that Niall had gotten involved and been let in on what was going on… he felt a little responsible.

There were things Niall wanted to ask, like on that day Liam had gotten into his taxi, had he been so stressed and panicked because he had hooked up with someone at that hotel? And the person he had talked to on the phone, had it been his manager giving him shit? Also, the video Liam had done for May, the night he had gotten smashed and bought Zayn drinks… had he truly been drunk because of how bad he had been feeling? But Niall knew to keep his mouth shut, because it didn’t seem as if Liam still wanted to talk about that.

In fact, it seemed he wanted to talk about anything at all in this world except his job, as if he never got the opportunity to somehow. Which would have made sense considering everyone he met and everyone he knew obviously knew who he was, but then again… so did Niall. Just not out of his own free will.

“Do you, um… can I ask you something? You don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal.” When Liam said that it was already after midnight and they had both kinda gotten a bit too comfortable on that couch so Niall just shrugged, honestly not even caring because whenever people said that… it was always the same question anyways. Just like this time. “Are you not together with May’s mother?”

“No.” Niall answered automatically while playing with his phone because he had been asked this way too many times before. It was kinda a given that people got curious though, especially because he was a little young to have a 6 year old daughter. The thing with Liam asking though was reminding Niall of how May had actually already told him, back then in the mall, but he probably didn’t remember that encounter, it had been quite random and brief after all. “She was barely in May’s life, she, uh, was involved in a car accident when May was two months old, so… yeah, she died, so…”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“No, it’s fine. That was six years ago and we never dated or anything, it was a one night stand.” Niall’s first and last one ever. “Of course I didn’t want her to die or whatever, but we also didn’t get along that well and… and then her parents tried to sue me for legal guardianship over May and all that fun stuff, so… I’m just sad for May. That she’s never gonna know what it’s like to have a mom, that she’s never even gonna meet her.”

“She’s got you though, I don’t think she even knows she’s missing something.” Liam tried to be encouraging now like all people did whenever Niall told them this story, so he just shrugged again, unbothered. 

“I can’t change it anyways, I’m just glad those first few years are over and that we’re at this point where everything’s kinda going alright.” God, Niall wouldn’t have wanted to relive those memories for anything in the world. Finding out he would be a father, at the age of 18. Telling his parents. The countless fights and the yelling and not knowing what to do, how things would turn out, their futures… and then hearing about her death, being left alone with a baby… yeah, Niall had still lived at home and his parents had helped him out immensely, but he didn’t even wanna know how many nights he had spent just bawling his fucking eyes out with a baby screaming next to him. “I’m just scared about what’s gonna happen if I ever date someone and like… May’s used to it just being me and her, I don’t know how she’d react.”

“You… you haven’t dated anyone since then?” Okay, why did Liam have to sound so judgmental all of a sudden?

“Yeah, you can’t relate, huh?” It just slipped out, Niall was aware how rude it had been, but Liam just blinked at him once before bursting out laughing. Thank god. Then again, why would Niall have cared if he had pissed him off? “I don’t have time to date anyone. And I don’t feel the need to either.”

“I mean… your daughter is probably thankful for all the attention she’s getting, but… you don’t wanna be alone for the rest of your life, do you?” My god, why was Liam this dramatic all the time?

“Why would I be alone for the rest of my life? I just wanna focus on other things right now and May is only 6, she doesn’t have anybody else except for me so that’s my priority. Why are you so judgmental?” Seriously?

“I’m not, I’m sorry, I just… I was surprised, that’s all. But I shouldn’t have said anything, it’s not my place and… and I can understand what you mean. Our situations are just… very different. I’m really sorry though.” He sounded serious and also guilty, so Niall decided to forgive him. Obviously Liam couldn’t relate in any shape or form to his struggles, so… “Also… I guess I’m not one to talk about relationships.”

“True.” It WAS true, was Niall supposed to lie?

“… it’s really strange whenever I remember how much you actually know about me.” Liam answered after a moment and the younger man just laughed, feeling kinda good about it though. 

“Oh, I know absolutely everything about you.” Niall told him though it was probably not true at all, he just kinda enjoyed seeing Liam getting all stressed out over it. “Liam James Payne, born August 29th 1993 in W-“

“Oh my god, can you stop?” The older man interrupted immediately, but it only made Niall laugh again because of how much it genuinely seemed to bother him. Maybe he was a little bit sleep deprived at this point and it kinda made Niall feel a little light headed as if he had had too much to drink or something. Not that he ever got drunk.

“-olverhampton. Two sisters, five hundred dogs-“

“Okay, stop with the dogs, there aren’t even that many, I don’t know why people like to joke about that.” Now his face had gotten blushed as hell, which only amused Niall even more.

“Because, mate, you just got too many dogs in your life, no one can keep up.” Okay, Niall hadn’t planned on calling him _mate_ , but whatever. “Can I ask you something I’ve always wondered?”

“You’re still gonna ask even if I say no, aren’t you?” He caught on quickly.

“What’s the deal with all the shirtless pictures? Like, are you trying to compens-“

“Oh my god. I think I’m gonna go home now.” Liam groaned, burying his face in his hands while Niall couldn’t hold back quite a hysterical laughter. Maybe they SHOULD have gone home, before whatever this was would escalate. “You’re worse than Louis and he’s already the fucking worst.”

“If you post naked pictures all over social media you gotta expect people to take the piss out of you. It’s your own fault.” Seriously though, if one of Niall’s friends had done that, he’d never let them hear the end of it. Even if he had to admit Liam had quite good reasons to post pictures like that, but he wasn’t gonna say that out loud. Ever. “Sorry, I was just kidding. I guess your fans really appreciate it, I just never know what to tell May when she asks if you have no clothes.”

“Did she really ask that?” Was he really concerned now?

“No? It was a joke.” A pretty bad one, but at least Liam didn’t comment on that and simply rolled his eyes, not even having made one single movement indicating that he actually wanted to get up and go home. In fact, he seemed to only make himself more comfortable. “Although-“

“Okay, change of topic.” Liam quickly decided, probably afraid what else Niall would come up with. There was a LOT he could have asked and if they stayed here even longer than chances were Niall would actually open his mouth and ask them at some point. But he couldn’t just leave Liam all by himself here, could? What if he did something really stupid and then Niall was the one who would have to deal with the aftermath just as much? Plus, they were both Louis’ friends. “How many jobs do you have? Louis keeps mentioning something else every time he talks about you.”

“Four. How often do you guys talk about me? Sounds a little strange.” Did they have nothing else to talk about?

“Not that often, I mean… Louis is pretty damn obsessed with the future of this studio, and you’re the only other employee so… “ Right. “So where do you work?”

“Here, at the taxi company as you know, at a school where I teach guitar lessons and I’ve got a friend who works at a law firm and me and him kinda run the website for the lawyers there and we answer Emails and stuff.” Good thing Niall had changed jobs so often already because he would have gotten tired repeating the same things over and over again.

“Wow… doesn’t that get exhausting?” Liam asked as if he was genuinely worried or something, so Niall refrained from rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah. But I don’t have a choice, none of the jobs pay that well. And at least I can take May to three out of four, so I don’t have to find babysitters all the time.” So really taking this job here had been a win for Niall, because the restaurant he had worked at before obviously hadn’t made it possible for him to bring his daughter. But the tips had been a lot better, so there was that. “If Louis wants this studio to do well so badly, why can’t you help him out somehow? Like, send your famous buddies to come over?”

“I offered my help multiple times, but he said he wants to grow it organically or something. Which I get, I mean, I’d help him with anything and he knows that, he just rarely ever accepts it. He wants to do it on his own, which is understandable, I guess….” Right, well, Niall understood that as well, he just hadn’t thought Louis was so ambitious somehow, he stroke him more as a laid back person most of the time. “You guys are rather busy here though, right? So it seems to be working.”

“Let’s hope it is, I don’t wanna have to go job hunting again anytime soon.” To be fair, Niall would have just taken the next best thing that somehow suited his schedule anyways, he always did that because he was terrified of having to one day ask his parents for money because he couldn’t feed his daughter anymore. 

“Yeah, I can imagine that sucks… I’m sorry, I don’t wanna sound like I pity your or something.” Well… he kinda was, but it was alright.

“It’s fine. It’s understandable that you can’t really put yourself in that position.” Just like Niall couldn’t really the other way around, which explained his very bad advice from earlier. Much earlier, because they had been here over a bloody hour. “Although talking to you I keep forgetting how many posters of your face I had to ruin my walls with. It’s almost as if you’re normal.”

“I’m sorry.” Liam laughed briefly, smiling though when he looked at Niall and his face was kind of a lot softer than the younger man had expected. “Thank you though, I’m glad you think I’m almost normal. I only notice you’re a dad in every second sentence you say as well.”

“Great, that was my goal, I’m so relieved, thank you so much.” Niall told him sarcastically, kinda feeling like Liam was having a bit too much fun though, so... “Hey, what happened to that one dog you got your ex girlfr-“

“Oh my god, stop! I’m going home for real, that’s it.” He didn’t though, not while Niall was just laughing at his facial expression and continued to laugh when Liam pretended to actually get up. Not even 20 minutes later when it was almost 1 in the morning. And not even at bloody 2 am, after Niall was sure he must have passed out at some point because he couldn’t really feel his body anymore. To be fair, Niall didn’t say anything about leaving either, but that was just because he felt responsible, that was all.

 

\-------------

 

“You know… “ Liam started, after literally having thought about it for an entire week and finally having come to the conclusion that there wasn’t anything strange about it. Like, he could talk to one of his best friends about some person they both knew, right? “About this guy that works for you… “

“Why are you pretending like you don’t know his name?” Okay, maybe Liam had tried to be a bit TOO careful. “You’ve met him, Liam, multiple t-“

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. It’s just… he’s got a complicated name.” He tried to defend himself, already feeling his face getting hot though because fuck, he shouldn’t have said anything without planning it out in more detail. “Anyways, um… “

“What?” Louis sounded annoyed, probably because he had just found out that the pizza delivery to his place actually took longer than just 30 minutes, but… Liam had told him so, and not just once. “He hasn’t asked about you, if that’s what you were gonna say.”

“Huh? Why would he?” Oh my god, had Niall broken his promise?!

“Because of his daughter? I thought you were gonna ask if he’s trying to somehow get to you through me or something.” Oh. “He literally never mentions you. And neither does his daughter anymore.”

“Um, okay.” Right, so why exactly did Liam feel a little insulted right now? “I actually just wanted to say that I got sent samples from my new merch, so… if his daughter wants anything… “

“Okay, I’m gonna ask.” Was literally all Louis said before letting out a frustrated sigh as he kept typing on his phone, clearly lost in thoughts and busy with whoever he was fighting with. The pizza delivery guy or something. 

Well, great, this couldn’t have gone any worse. 

The thing was, Liam hadn’t told anybody about this encounter at Louis’ studio, he had literally stayed there talking with Niall until around 3 in the morning, where the younger man had clearly been about to fall asleep. At first, it had only been about Liam not wanting to be alone, just wanting someone, _anyone_ to distract him, but then… Niall was funny, he was easy to talk to and it was obvious he gave 0 shits about who Liam was. He really only just cared about his daughter’s well-being and Liam was aware that he had wanted to leave the entire time, but he hadn’t because Liam was pathetic and he hadn’t tried to hide it that night. 

Things were still kinda going shit, but Liam had talked to his manager and he hadn’t drank anything this whole week, hadn’t even gone out and… he kinda felt like he wanted to thank Niall for just telling him to his face to get his act together but then proceeding to literally sit and keep him company for 4 hours with no personal gain. As if they were friends or something. 

But they weren’t and probably never would be… and yet Liam still couldn’t stop thinking about it and it really bothered him to no end.

“The other day, I… “ Liam started again because he was an idiot and he liked to make himself suffer apparently. “I kinda… I thought I’d check out your studio. Because you gave me the keys and everything.”

Upon hearing this, Louis finally put down his phone though it was with a sigh because he seemed to have not resolved the pizza issue yet. “Really? What’d you think?”

“It’s nice.” At least the only part of it Liam had seen right after walking in and crying on the couch before spending 4 hours talking to Niall, but yeah. “I kinda ran into Niall.”

“Wait… when?” Oh.

“Ummm… last weekend?” Liam tried, a little relived that Louis hadn’t noticed how he suddenly knew his name with no problems but also concerned because it seemed to surprise him.

“You were there in the middle of the night on a Saturday?” Wait- “Because that’s the only time Niall was alone.”

“I mean… yeah?” Fuck, Liam should have maybe gotten more information first on who did what in that bloody studio, because apparently, Niall didn’t do anything? So now he had to play it off to be the most normal thing in the entire world. “Why not?”

“Dunno, just asking. You’re weird as hell.” Great. “Did you also run into the guys recording?”

“No, they were already gone… Niall was still there, said he got caught up or something. I think I scared him quite a bit.” Or more the other way around, but Liam had been more busy thinking about how his career was coming to an end and then proceeding to lose his mind over it, the usual. 

“He didn’t even say anything about that.” Louis sounded slightly suspicious for some reason, but maybe that was just in Liam’s mind or something. Hopefully, because his friend simply shrugged after a moment. “Did you not talk to him? Couldn’t have left an impression if you did.”

“Oh, shut up.” Liam rolled his eyes, hoping that it wasn’t all too noticeable how fucking nervous he was right now. “We talked for a bit, yeah, don’t know if I left an impression. I like him, he’s funny.”

“Yeah, he is.” The other man agreed, eyeing Liam a little bit too closely for the younger’s liking though so he looked down onto his phone, pretending to be busy with something, but apparently, that was the absolute worst thing he could have done. “Please don’t.”

“What?” Liam looked up, confused as hell to see his friend having gotten all weird. 

“Don’t sleep with him.” What the fuck?!

“Ummm?! Why would I sleep with him? What’s that supposed to mean?!” Seriously?!

“I’m just making sure, you’ve kinda… gotten around lately a-“

“No, I haven’t? What the fuck, Lou, can you shut your mouth? It’s not like I just sleep with strangers every day.” To be fair though, he had kinda slept around, but… who was Louis to comment on that?! “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Well, sorry, but you’ve got this weird look on your face when you talk about him and I know he’s gonna quit his job if anything… happened. I don’t care who you sleep with, I wasn’t even judging you.” It had sounded a whole lot like it though. 

“There was no weird look.” Liam insisted though he was probably wrong but whatever. Fuck, he should have never told Louis about any of this, he didn’t even really know what his goal had been, he just… fuck, he couldn’t get Niall out of his head. But only because he had been so unexpectedly nice and caring, that was all. “I won’t sleep with him. Or with anyone else, for at least a few months.”

“Great, I don’t care. Just not Niall.” Louis shrugged, suddenly unbothered again and no idea why, but Liam just couldn’t drop it.

“What makes you think he’d hook up with me anyways?” Because clearly Niall wouldn’t, not even if Liam had been begging him, but maybe Louis hadn’t gotten to such in depth topics with him yet. 

“Seriously? Why does it matter if you don’t plan on-“

“Jesus, can I ask a single question without you freaking out on me? I just wanted to ease your mind. I’m pretty sure he’s straight… and he’s not the type to sleep around, he’s got a daughter.” Okay, Liam shouldn’t have said that.

“Did he tell you that?” Louis looked even more worried than before now and Liam kinda wanted to punch himself in the face, although… now he had finally gotten what he had wanted for the past week. Talk about Niall with someone. “Is this what you classify as talking a _bit_?”

“No, I… we just talked. It was late. Whatever. I won’t sleep with him, case closed.” Or maybe not because Louis pretended he hadn’t even heard that.

“Jesus Christ, Liam.” Okay, what now?! 

“What did I say?” What did Louis WANT him to say, more like. 

“I swear to god, if you fall in love with him I’m going to personally strangle you. He has a _daughter_ , and if that isn’t bad enough already, she is literally your biggest fan and-“

“I’m not falling in love with him.” Liam interrupted, having needed a second though to process it, his cheeks having gotten quite hot for some reason. “Why would you even think that? I barely know him.”

“Then let’s keep it that way because if talking to him once in the middle of the night keeps you busy thinking about him the entire following week then I don’t wanna know what’ll happen if you talk for a bit longer the next time.” Well, about that… 

“He wasn’t even on my mind, I just remembered it because of the merch thing.” Liam lied, feeling like a stupid idiot though when he said it because… Louis was kind of right. He just knew him too well. “Can we just drop it now? When’s that stupid pizza gonna come?”

“Literally never. And we can’t drop it now because you’ve gotten me all worried.” Louis suddenly leaned forward on the couch, looking at Liam so intensely as if he was trying to read his mind or something. “I’m gonna say something now and you can’t get mad because it’s the truth and we both know it and I really just care about you.”

“What?” Did he even wanna know?!

“I know you haven’t been doing well lately, and that you’re stressed out, so I’m sorry for what I said about you sleeping around and… I’m glad you’re trying to get that and the drinking under control. But we both know that you don’t do so well being single and you fall for people way too quickly, especially when you’re going through something. So please, if anything is up then just talk to me or talk to _someone_ , but don’t get caught up in something with Niall just because he was being nice and funny this one time you didn’t wanna be alone.” Why did it hurt just how accurate this was? Louis was right, Liam couldn’t get mad, but he kinda wanted to. “You’re gonna be fine, you just need to relax.”

“I am relaxed.” Liam lied, feeling slightly embarrassed because he hadn’t thought he was THAT easy to read. Then again, Louis had known him pretty much his entire life, so… “And I don’t mind being single right now. I’m just gonna focus on work now, and make sure the album doesn’t flop as much as the single.”

“It didn’t even flop. See, this is what I mean, you gotta stop trying to be perfect all the time, it’s not good for you and you’ll never be satisfied. Just… take it easy, okay? I don’t need you to have a burnout or something.” Literally what did that have to do with him?

“Really? Would that be slightly inconvenient for you? Maybe I could reschedule it for-“

“Shut up, you know I’m being serious. I just care about you and-“

And then Louis was interrupted by the doorbell and he jumped up immediately, throwing a somewhat apologetic glance at Liam as he hurried to get his food and Liam was honestly kinda relieved. He knew he should have talked to Louis about everything, but… he didn’t want to. And even less now that his friend so obviously knew that something was going on and… and the thing with Niall as well. 

But Louis was right, Liam just needed to fucking relax and take it easy and not temporarily fall in love with people who showed him the slightest bit of kindness. 

 

\--------------------

 

“You’re cheating!” Niall pretended to be fake shocked when May got careless with her cheating though it wasn’t anything new. Any kind of board or card game they played, she had the most fun thinking Niall couldn’t see whenever she didn’t follow the rules, even more fun than when he let her win. 

“No, I’m not, I had that card all along!” She was a giggling mess already though, lying on the floor with at least 10 stuffed animals around them to ‘watch’ them play. They were the audience and they were really important Niall had been told when he had tried to complain. “I’d win even without it.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain about that, sweetheart.” For a moment, Niall thought about genuinely trying to win, but then again, for what? He knew she only behaved this way whenever it was only him and her playing, so it’s not like he was teaching her that she would always win in life, right? “It’s my turn.”

“It was just your turn!” True.

“No, it wasn’t.” Niall joked, laughing when May tried to stop him from moving his hands, laughing hysterically when he started tickling her with his free one, the game long having lost its seriousness. “I think I’m gonna win!”

“Noooo!” May was having a hard time talking between laughter, winding on the floor trying to get away from Niall’s fingers. “That’s not fair, daddy!”

“You cheating isn’t fair. I bet all of your audience has seen you cheating as well.” Niall referred to the stuffed animals, letting go of his daughter in favor of taking one of them, holding its mouth to his ear and nodding along as he pretended that it was whispering to him. “Mhmm… confirmed. You’re the biggest cheater Mr. Dog has ever seen.”

“His name isn’t Mr. Dog anymore.” Was all May cared about, quickly taking the stuffed animal out of Niall’s hands to put him back in his place with the others. “If he told you that then he was lying about me cheating as well.”

“What’s his name then?” Niall asked, trying to hold back a laugh as he watched his daughter becoming all serious as she re-arranged the animals.

“… Mrs. Dog. He’s a girl now.” Right. “It’s my turn.”

So Niall let her, just because he was so amused and because he didn’t even mind it of course. It was Sunday afternoon and they had been cleaning the whole morning, doing the laundry and whatnot, so Niall thought they deserved the rest of the day off to just do whatever May wanted. He had even told her they could go to the cinema or go to the park, but she had decided she just wanted to stay at home and play with Niall. Which, obviously, was the best decision ever.

They played until May had won and then she brought another game that they only got through halfway before she got bored of it and asked for a snack. Probably only because Niall had made cookies the other day and there were still loads left and she knew she could have two as dessert once she was done, but… why not? It was Sunday, they could do whatever they wanted, even stay in their pajamas all day and only drink hot chocolate.

“Can we watch a film now?” The little girl asked while Niall was doing the dishes after she had had her snack, handing the plate to her afterwards because she liked to dry everything off. It was a plastic plate for kids, so he didn’t mind.

“Of course. Do you wanna look for one on my laptop?” They had a ton of DVDs from when Niall had been a child, but obviously they usually watched on Netflix now, a lot less work for Niall and no lost or scratched CD’s. 

He felt like maybe he should have been slightly concerned how well his 6 year old was handling his laptop a few minutes later, but it’s not like she was constantly on it, only when Niall allowed it and under his supervision. May decided they needed to watch some Barbie film, not exactly Niall’s favorite, but… it was whatever. 

About five minutes in, May had already ended up on his lap with her favorite blanket and three or four stuffed animals and Niall had no space left whatsoever, but he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. 

“Daddy, your phone.” May commented at some point, having a better sight on the table in front of them than Niall. 

Niall thought about it for a moment, but then he did lean forward slightly, holding May tighter for a moment so she wouldn’t slip when he grabbed his phone before half lying back down against the couch once more. It was just a text message from Louis, asking whether Niall was at home so obviously the younger man texted back asking why he needed to know that without giving away the answer. 

 

_Louis Tomlinson 16:05  
I’m in the area & I got something for May. Can I drop it off real quick? It’s in a bag and everything, she won’t even see what it is if you don’t want her to, promise. Liam got her some free merch_

 

Almost immediately, mostly upon reading Liam’s name, Niall felt his body stiffen a little. It had been only last weekend that he and Liam had been talking until god knows what hour and Niall hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it at first, but then his week had been crazy busy, so… he only really remembered it now. 

“May? Would you mind if Louis comes over for a few minutes?” Niall decided to ask before texting, just because Sunday’s were kind of his and May’s only day of the week to spend some quality time, but she seemed really into the film anyways.

“Okay.” Was all she said, seemingly not caring in any way. 

Honestly, Niall didn’t know if he wanted Liam’s free merch, he also didn’t know why Louis felt the need to drive over right now to give it to him when he could have just done it at work in a few days, but… maybe the strangeness of it all was what made Niall wanna say yes.

He left May watching TV on her own for a bit as he went to at least put on a different shirt, one that he hadn’t slept and cleaned in, before coming back to sit with her for the few more minutes Louis needed to get here. Either he had really been in the area, or he had already been downstairs the whole time and simply waited a few minutes before ringing the bell.

“Are you in your pajamas?” Was the first thing Louis asked when Niall let him in, already wanting to show him out again. 

“No?” Niall asked, pretending to be really offended. “Can you take your shoes off? We cleaned the whole day.”

“Sure, sorry.” Louis immediately did what he had been told while Niall was eyeing the bag he was holding, deciding not to ask just yet. “Hi, May.”

“Hi.” She answered, but her eyes stayed glued to the TV, so at least she wouldn’t hear whatever they were talking about. Still, Niall liked to be sure. 

“We’re just in the kitchen, okay, love? I’ll be right back to watch with you.” Niall told her, walking past the couch to kiss the top of her head from behind as she simply nodded without answering.

“Seems like you’ve got no chance against Barbie.” The older man laughed when they reached the kitchen and Niall closed the door halfway though it seemed unnecessary. “But no worries, I’m already on my way again. Just wanted to give you this.”

“Thanks… what is it?” Niall tried not to come off as too curious when he took the bag, but obviously he had to look inside straight away. 

“Liam’s new merch, he got free samples.” Except…

“In children’s aged 6 clothing size?” How very convenient.

“I don’t know, I didn’t look at the stuff, he just gave it to me this morning when I saw him. You don’t have to take it or give it to her if you don’t want to, or just… keep it for her birthday or something.” Louis did seem kinda interested though when Niall unfolded the shirt because it was the item lying on top, but the younger man ignored it.

“Her birthday is really far away.” Should Niall have just given her the whole bag? Like, why not, there was no harm in it, was there? She hadn’t been talking about Liam too much lately, she still liked him of course, but he wasn’t really doing anything public right now and all this meeting him and stuff was a while in the past as well.

“Happy Easter?” Louis tried with a smirk and Niall simply shrugged, putting the shirt back inside.

“Maybe, I’ll think about it. Thanks for bringing it over and… tell Liam thanks from me as well?” Had he done this because of last Saturday?

“No problem. But maybe you run into him again at the studio then you can tell him yourself.” Um… one second…

“He told you about that?” Niall pretended not to care, and he felt like he was doing a pretty good job at it as well.

“Yeah, I was really surprised. You didn’t even mention it on Tuesday.” Okay, was this why Louis had come over? To try and get something out of Niall?

“I forgot about it.” Niall lied, leaving the bag on the kitchen table as he went to get a glass for Louis. “Do you want some water? I also got juice pouches.”

“Water is fine, thanks. I’m already on my way though, still gotta take Clifford to the vet.” Sounded like a lie because he didn’t seem in a hurry at all and Niall wasn’t so great at kicking people out, so he figured Louis was probably gonna stay for a bit.

“Is he sick?” He still decided to ask anyways, because if Louis was gonna lie, he better back it up with something.

“No, just a check up.” The answer came quite out smoothly, almost as smoothly as Louis changed the topic afterwards. “So what did you and Liam talk about?”

“I don’t know, just random stuff. Life. Why?” Could he have literally been any more obvious?! 

“Don’t know, I was just wondering why neither of you said anything about it. As if it was some secret meeting or something.” Okay, why in god’s name had Liam told him anyways? Like… he knew Louis way better than Niall, he should have known he’d keep on asking them about it. 

“Oh my god, how’d you know? We planned it for _weeks_ , just so you wouldn’t find out about it because we didn’t want you there under any circumstances. And then Liam recorded a super secret song because obviously I’m the best person to record with and he didn’t want you to screw it all up, sorry.” A bit too much? “Here’s your water that I’m paying with all the money I made from singlehandedly keeping Liam’s career going.”

“You’re so bloody strange. Thanks.” Was all Louis said, but he had followed the story with pulled up eyebrows, looking rather interested in what else Niall would come up with. “Why’re you avoiding the question?”

“Why do you so desperately want there to be some kinda secret?” Niall asked back, leaning against the kitchen counter and resisting the urge to go through that bag again. Maybe he’d just give it to May, because why not? She’d be so excited and it’s not like she got random presents on a daily basis. “I stayed a bit longer, using the fast Wi-Fi because May was at my parents’ house, and then Liam came in, we scared the crap out of each other, had some small talk about the studio and he asked about May, then I left because I was tired anyways. Super interesting, I know.”

“Was it weird talking to him? I mean, considering you know so much about him and everything.” Okay, what did Louis REALLY want?!

“Not really, I’ve talked to him before. What exactly are you hoping to hear? That we sat and talked about our deepest secrets and painted each other’s nails?” To be fair, Niall was really good at painting nails, which also reminded him… “I promised May I’d watch the film with her, you can join if you want, I’m sure she won’t mind. But you can’t mention Liam.”

“I won’t. I was just curious, that’s all, it’s just a really weird situation.” True, but Niall didn’t believe a single word the older man was saying anyways.

So they went back to the living room to join May again and Niall left the bag in the kitchen for now, Louis seemingly already having forgotten about the lie he had told about the vet by then. Not that Niall genuinely cared, it seemed as if Louis had nowhere to spend his Sunday afternoon, so… if May didn’t mind, which she clearly didn’t because she actually had quite a lot of fun spoiling Louis the entire plot. Or what was to spoil in a film like this at least.

Actually, Niall was about to get started on making dinner, already slightly worried if he had enough to offer Louis something as well when the doorbell rang, making them all listen up.

“Did you invite someone else?” Louis asked, almost as if he was offended?

“Um, no. Maybe it’s a neighbor who locked themselves out. Or just someone who wants to be let in the building.” Niall shrugged, lifting May off of his lap so he could get to the door, pressing the button to allow whoever was at the main entrance to enter. Maybe he should have asked who it was, but it barely took a few seconds before someone was knocking on Niall’s own front door and he took a look through the peephole. It was Harry?

“Hi, sorry, this is weird.” The other man seemed slightly out of breath when Niall opened the door, already expecting the worst because of how rough he looked and everything. “I locked myself out of my own place, left my phone inside and everything and… your place is the closest to mine.”

“Oh, sh- that sucks. How long did you need to get here?” Niall opened the door wider to let his friend enter, already worried about what they were gonna do now because it was a Sunday and what if Harry’s landlord wouldn’t answer his phone? Well, Harry could have just slept here then, May would have surely been excited. 

“Not too long, only like half an h-“

“Uncle Harry!” May was clearly more excited about seeing Harry than she had been when Louis had arrived before, even getting up off the couch to run towards him. 

“Hi, May! How’re you doing, love?” Harry picked her up easily when she stretched out her arms towards him, smiling at her before his eyes suddenly went over to where she had been sitting before on the couch. Right.

“Umm, Harry, this is Louis. Louis, Harry.” Niall quickly introduced them after closing the door, suddenly feeling really weird. “I’ll go get my phone so we can call someone.”

“Okay, yeah, great. Thanks. Hi, nice to meet you.” And then Harry probably walked over to shake Louis’ hand or something, Niall wasn’t there to witness it because he went to the kitchen to get his phone, but when he came back, May had already gone back to watching Barbie and Harry and Louis were having some small talk. Pretty awkward small talk to be exact. “You’re Niall’s boss, right? At that recording studio? You own it?”

“Yeah, exactly. Although it’s not really that kinda situation between us, so… “ Louis shrugged and Niall suddenly realized he had nowhere to sit anymore now. When had this happened? 

“I can see that.” Harry laughed, probably referring to the fact that Louis was here on a Sunday afternoon, watching TV with May. 

“Daddy, is uncle Zayn coming too?” May suddenly threw in, looking back to where Niall was standing behind the couch and for a second, Niall considered saying yes, just as a joke, just to see Harry’s face get even paler.

“No, love, sorry.” This must have been quite confusing for her, like… everyone just randomly gathering here. “Here, do you know your landlords’ number? We can also google someone who could unlock the door, but I don’t know if they do that on a Sunday.”

“I mean, they have to, right? Can’t expect people not to lock themselves out on Sunday’s.” Louis threw in, as if this was in any way his business. “Actually, I know someone who could help you, I’m sure if I ask him then he wouldn’t even take any money for it.”

“Seriously?” Harry hadn’t even taken Niall’s phone, so Niall gave up on holding it towards him because his arm was starting to ache. Instead, he made May sit on his lap once more because there was nowhere else to sit, suddenly feeling as if his presence wasn’t even needed anymore. “That’d be awesome, I’m kinda broke right now anyways.”

“Yeah, I’ll text him, no worries.” Louis already had his phone out as if they were in a real hurry to leave now and just… what? “I can drive you to wherever you live, I was about to leave anyways.”

“Since w-“

“Great, thank you, that’d be amazing.” Harry interrupted Niall, though he probably hadn’t even noticed that he had spoken up in the first place.

Whoever the person was that Louis knew apparently told him he could be there in an hour and no one asked Niall if it was alright if they all sat there for an hour but they just did it anyways. May’s film ended twenty minutes later, so she followed Niall to the kitchen like a lost puppy when he went to get dinner started, probably feeling a little left out by Harry and Louis, who seemed to share a strange amount of the same interests, which they had all discovered in that short time span. 

“What’s in that bag?” May asked after Niall had lifted her on the counter because she liked to sit there and watch him cook. 

“I’ll show you later, okay? Do you wanna pour the rice in?” Niall tried to distract her immediately, which worked out really well because she LOVED to help him cook, so that was something at least.

When Harry left with Louis a while later, Niall could still hear them laughing through the closed front door as they walked downstairs and he had no idea how to feel about this. If they got along so well so quickly… did that mean Niall would have to hang out with Louis outside work even more now? Oh god, what if they thought they were all like, some kinda friendship group all of a sudden and- wait, no. They hadn’t even cared about Niall’s presence, if anything… had Louis just stolen Harry’s friendship from Niall? It seemed quite like it for some reason.

After dinner, Niall kinda waited for Harry to text him, but he never did, so instead, he made sure to get May ready for bed, lying down with her for a bit when she asked him to and practicing a bit of reading. Because it wasn’t time to sleep yet though, he spontaneously decided to just let her have the entire bag of merch from Liam, just because tomorrow was Monday and Niall hated Sunday nights when it was nearing the time he had to go to bed.

Obviously May was more than just excited, but not overly so, like, she didn’t cry or anything like she had done before, she was just really, really happy. Liam was truly something else, he had probably given her every single piece of merch he had, like shirts and a hoodie and whatnot. All in her size, conveniently enough.

“I wanna try them on.” May announced, making Niall regret his decision a little, but he just let her anyways because it was his own fault.

Niall just stayed on May’s bed while she modelled the shirts for him, and then the hoodie in the end and Niall was about to maybe suggest that it was nearing bedtime, but then that quickly became a bit irrelevant.

“What’s that?” The little girl had pulled something out of the hoodie pocket in the front, and Niall wasn’t confused at first, he just leaned forward to take it out of her hands to throw it away.

“Probably just the tag.” But it wasn’t. 

It was surely small enough to be a tag, and May believed him immediately, going back to admiring herself in the mirror while Niall took a closer look. He genuinely thought it was just trash, that it had accidentally fallen into the bag or had already been there or whatever, but… it was anything besides that.

And if Niall hadn’t known better, if Liam hadn’t fucking written it down for him, he wouldn’t have believed that it was actually his phone number. What the hell? What had he been thinking? He must have known May would be the one to find it, she could READ?! But then again… Liam hadn’t written down his name or anything, he had simply written _in case you need something else_ before putting his bloody number there.

What did he even mean, SOMETHING ELSE? More merch? What was wrong with him?!

“Daddy?” May asked, having come closer, so Niall jerked, making sure to crumble the paper up in his hand before she would ask about it. “Can I wear the hoodie to school tomorrow?”

“Of course, love. But you really gotta get back in your pajamas now and then go to sleep, alright? It’s getting late.” Niall tried his hardest to act as if nothing was wrong when he helped May getting redressed and tucked her into bed, having to kiss 10 or maybe 20 stuffed animals goodnight before being allowed to give her a kiss as well. 

The whole day really reached a new high though when Niall walked out of May’s room, still busy thinking about what Liam had done and why, only to get a text message from Harry that made him notice he had one from Louis AND from Zayn as well. Although, to be fair, the latter was so random that it almost made Niall laugh to see it in between the other two. It also kinda made him wanna gag though.

 

_Louis Tomlinson 18:59  
Soooo… you ever wanna bring Harry to see the studio? _

_Zayn 19:02  
This is weird but you’re a dad, so… do you think I should go to the doctors if I get diarrhea every time I eat fruit?_

_Harry 19:34  
Can you give me louis’ number? I just wanna say thank you again, he really helped me out :)_

 

Niall did text them all back though none of them deserved it ( _no?_ , _YES?!_ , _I’m sure it was no trouble :)))_ ), because… had everyone lost their bloody minds now?!

 

\-------------

 

Niall didn’t text Liam, because first and foremost… what the fuck? In fact, he didn’t do anything at all with the piece of paper, but he also didn’t throw it away, which he told himself was just because maybe it’d be useful at one point. But probably not, like, what would Niall have said to Liam anyways? _Hey, how’s your mental breakdown going?_ In fact, Niall didn’t even WANT to know that, because as well as he and Liam had gotten along that night, it had just been that. And he had no idea why Liam was trying to make it into more, did he not have enough friends, did he not have anything better to do?! Apparently not.

Also, whatever Harry and Louis had going on as well was maybe even stranger than the fact that some celebrity had slipped Niall his phone number in his daughter’s hoodie, which was pretty hard to beat and yet here they were. Somehow Harry had convinced Niall to give him Louis’ number after all, and he surely hadn’t used it to just say thank you again, but Niall was pretending not to care about any of it so he didn’t actually know any details.

Not that he wanted to, because he was pretty sure that NO one did.

“I’m gonna die.” Zayn announced when he got into Niall’s car, having his sunglasses put on even though there was no sunshine and he had just come from indoors. 

“Because you’re gonna run into a car because you can’t see anything?” Niall had no idea how Zayn was ALWAYS this stressed, much more than anybody else even though he got to go home from work at 1 pm at least 3 times a week. “What’s with the sunglasses?”

“So they can’t recognize me so easily. Just drive, please.” The other man was genuinely trying to hide his face from the students leaving the school building as well and Niall would have laughed had he not been slightly concerned at the same time.

“You think they can’t recognize you in the hallways when you have sunglasses on?” Was he okay?

“No, but it signalizes them that they shouldn’t approach me when I’m on my way out. Listen, they run my whole life, it’s not asking too much that I need a few minutes of peace a day.” He made some movement with his hand, finally taking off the glasses though once Niall had driven off. 

“It’s 2 pm, Z. You’ve been here for what, 6 hours with 2 free periods in between?” Niall knew because he had been teaching guitar lessons before and he had actually run into Zayn in the hallways, so they had spontaneously decided to go out and have lunch after because May was going to a friend’s house today after school and Zayn… well, Zayn never cooked. Except coffee. 

“That is really fucking long? I was grading essays in those free periods and it killed my last two brain cells.” Sounded quite like it.

“You know, what they’re writing is a reflection of the way you teach t-“

“No, it’s not. Some of them are super smart and some of them can’t even do basics, I really try my hardest, Niall. Like, most of the time, but they just… some of them just don’t get it. And they never will, it’s just the way it is.” Zayn explained as if it was a given fact or something, as if it actually was that way and Niall was an idiot.

“Shouldn’t you as a teacher believe that everyone can succeed if they’re given the right tools or something?” Shouldn’t he also not already be nearing a burn out after teaching for literally 1 year in total?

“No? That’s just some fantasy they tell the parents, sorry to break it to you. But you’re lucky, May is smart and she’s polite, she’s already won so you won’t have to worry about her going to high school one day.” Yeah, because Zayn’s judgement was what mattered most to Niall.

“Thanks.” Was all the younger boy replied, because he truly didn’t know what else to say, so he decided it was probably best to switch the topic. “How’s your diarrhea going?”

“Well, it’s still going.” Zayn simply answered and Niall regretted asking. “I bet Harry would have some bullshit voodoo tea against that.”

“Do you want me to ask him for you?” Niall offered sarcastically, but at the same time, the mentioning of his friend’s name wasn’t exactly bringing him joy right now. He had to go to the recording studio in a few hours and he was already scared to hear what Louis would have to tell him. 

“Yeah, right. He’s just gonna put in poison or something, and then have his lawyer friends cover up the murder for him. Is it possible to sue someone for living a too healthy lifestyle? Like, to a point where it’s just an insult to everyone around them?” Right, that had been the wrong topic.

“I doubt it.” Also, Harry wasn’t that healthy, but Zayn was probably referring to the last time they had talked, MONTHS ago, where Harry had given him a speech on all the coffee Zayn had been drinking, which had then resulted in Zayn drinking even more just to spite him and their dislike towards each other growing. Best birthday Niall had ever had. Not. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Somewhere cheap, I’m trying to save some money right now.” Yeah, Niall could have asked for what, but he didn’t, because chances were Zayn’s answer would have only sparked another unpleasant conversation topic and it was probably best for them to be quiet for a bit, allow the older man to calm down from his day at school.

They went to the same place they always went to, just some coffee place because that was the only thing Zayn needed anyways and Niall wasn’t actually too hungry. He’d have to eat though before he went to the recording studio because after that he’d have to pick up May almost immediately and pray that she’d get dinner at her friend’s house before that. 

“How’s May?” Zayn asked after they had sat down, the coffee seemingly already having calmed him down. Which, to be fair, really didn’t seem all too healthy, but… “I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“She’s great, as always. You gotta come over for dinner, or babysit for me, I’m always in desperate need.” Not ALWAYS, but quite often. 

“Sure, just tell me when, chances are I won’t have any plans anyways. Except on the weekend, that could be a bit problematic.” As if Niall would have allowed him to watch May with a hangover. “Are you still enjoying that job at that recording studio? I know you’ve been there for a while now, it just seemed random to me that you applied in the first place… and that your boss knows Liam.”

“Yeah, it’s quite cool actually, especially because Louis literally doesn’t care about anything I do. We got a recording session later.” Niall purposely avoided talking about Liam right now, because… not a great idea. Especially because he still had that piece of paper lying around somewhere, and May had been wearing the merch for 3 consecutive days now and Niall hadn’t been able to tell her to put on something else because it’s not like it was the same shirt or hoodie, Liam had just gotten her way too many clothing items.

“Maybe I should quit and find myself a job like that.” Zayn joked before already finishing his coffee, but that was nothing new.

“Or four and then still not be able to pay rent.” Obviously Niall’s friends all made more money than him, and had nicer places to live, but they also had degrees and no child, so… “Is being a teacher really that horrible?”

“Nah, it’s just me, you know me. I’d get overworked in any job anyways.” Zayn shrugged before getting up, announcing that he needed some more caffeine and Niall stayed behind, using the time to check his phone, just in case anything had happened, like with May or the appointment he had with Louis, but nothing. “Here, they gave me a free cookie.”

“Thanks… for what?” Niall laughed briefly when he took it as his friend sat down again a few minutes later, kinda happy about it because maybe he was getting hungry after all.

“Because my caffeine addiction keeps this place running.” He joked though it kinda felt like it was the truth. Before Niall could have asked for the real reason though, Zayn suddenly seemed in a hurry to get something out. “Oh, I almost forgot, I was gonna show you something.”

“Okay, what?” Niall wasn’t really expecting anything exciting, maybe some abstract one of Zayn’s students had written or something.

“I only saw it because I couldn’t sleep last night and I was on my phone until 3 am or something… anyways, I don’t know if you still care about this stuff because of May, but here.” And then Zayn simply handed his phone over after finding what he had been looking for and Niall started feeling kinda sick to his stomach all of a sudden.

For a moment, Niall thought he had been freaking out too soon, but when he really concentrated and saw what the article Zayn had wanted to show him was about, it kinda made him more worried than it should have. Though it didn’t look like the end of the world of course, seeing those pictures of Liam still wasn’t really what Niall had wanted to see right now.

It were just two, and it was obvious Liam hadn’t wanted to be seen, but it was too late for that. He didn’t look all too good, exhausted and the caption nicely pointed out his red eyes as well. Plus, the whole article was basically just about how his single had flopped and how whatever source had told the magazine that he was about cancel his whole tour and take a break. Niall wouldn’t have usually been worried about this stuff, but… the pictures were from yesterday and he KNEW there was something to that story.

“Probably just some gossip to get readers.” Niall decided to say when he handed the phone back, pretending as if he didn’t care. “I don’t think there’s anything to it and even if… May would be fine if he took a break. It’s not like she’s seen him that often when he was on tour or anything.”

“Okay, good, I just thought maybe you’d be interested in that.” He wasn’t wrong, but he couldn’t know that, so Niall just shrugged, making sure to stuff his mouth with the cookie Zayn had given him.

They stayed at the café talking for an hour or so before Niall drove Zayn back to where his car was parked and then went home himself to have a snack because he still had some time before he’d have to be at the recording studio. Niall was really and genuinely trying his hardest not to think about it, but he just couldn’t get those damn photos out of his head, and the fact that he KNEW Liam wasn’t doing well and then the thing with the phone number and… Jesus Christ.

When Niall finally gave in and kind of aggressively typed those numbers into his phone, he kinda already wanted to change his mind again, but he would have felt really fucking awful had he not at least ASKED if he could help. There was a possibility Liam still hadn’t told anyone besides Niall, and maybe that was why he had given him his number? Because he couldn’t have asked Louis for it, obviously, so there was literally no other way for them to stay in contact.

 

_To Liam 15:57  
Hi, this is Niall. Thank you for the merch, May loves it :) Are you doing okay?_

 

Niall didn’t actually think that Liam would text back anytime soon, he honestly felt a little weird after sending the text, but then again… it’s not like had asked for Liam’s number, right? He was really just trying to help, nothing else. 

Just because it felt weird, Niall actually put his phone away as he cleaned up the dishes, trying to keep his mind busy with other stuff and when he came back to it, it was only to check the time, so he was more than surprised to see that Liam had already answered minutes after Niall’s text. And the content didn’t exactly make Niall feel calmer.

 

_Liam 16:00  
You’re welcome! Just let me know if she wants anything else from the website. I understand if you don’t want to, but would you be able to talk, maybe?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :)
> 
> thank you for all the comments & kudos once again, every week im just blown away by how much love this fic is getting <33 this chapter is my favorite one so far i think, so i hope you guys enjoyed it, please let me know!!
> 
> also a reminder again: the 6th chapter is going to be uploaded on sunday (probably a few hours earlier than usual!!) and there is no update next week because im not home! 
> 
> i hope you will all have an amazing week, thank you again for being so lovely <3


	6. Chapter 6

Niall took kind of a long time to answer Liam’s message, not really knowing what to expect if he had said yes, but he couldn’t anyways because he’d have to be at the recording studio in less than an hour and he surely wouldn’t miss out on that money for Liam. So that’s what he told the other man, minus the money part of course, but plus the fact that he’d have to pick up May afterwards and Niall half expected Liam to just ignore it or something, but he didn’t. In fact, he again texted just a minute later or something, as if this man genuinely had nothing better to do than wait by his phone for some random guy to text him.

 

_Liam 16:16  
No worries._

 

Great, so now Niall felt like absolute shit, because even though he told himself he had done nothing wrong and that he and Liam weren’t exactly friends or even just acquaintances… it seemed as if Liam was disappointed. Not that he had any right to be or expect Niall to be free and talk, but then again… he had tried quite hard to make May happy, 3 times now. AND he had worn that damn bracelet for a really long time and read her letter and Niall was possibly the only person who knew about his struggles and … fuck. 

 

_To Liam 16:20  
I don’t have anything tomorrow morning until 11. I drop May off at school at 8:45._

 

He just sent it without much thinking, giving Liam that ONE chance, if he truly and really wanted to talk to Niall about whatever, then he’d have to make time, simple as that. Also, it didn’t look like his schedule was that tight, so Niall was aware what he was doing by sending that message. And he also wasn’t really surprised by the answer he got.

 

_Liam 16:21  
I really don’t wanna take time out of your day if you got something else to do_

 

God, could he STOP acting like a child after asking for Niall to make time for him? Literally, this was going too far.

 

_To Liam 16:22  
It’s fine, don’t worry, I have nothing else to do_

 

So Niall sent that message and then simply waited for Liam’s answer, which of course had a smiling emoji attached and the younger man kinda wanted to punch himself in the face. What the fuck was he getting himself into? 

He stopped texting Liam after just giving him a thumbs up, not asking how he wanted to do this, if he wanted to meet up or… who even knew, Niall genuinely didn’t even wanna know right now, especially not right before he’d be with Louis. He’d just let himself be surprised tomorrow by whatever Liam would come up with, because Niall was quite sure that he definitely would. Or maybe even tonight, he seemed quite like the kinda person that wasn’t afraid to fucking triple text after not getting an answer for 5 minutes.

At least all this stuff going on had as a consequence that Niall almost forgot about other things he had been worried about, for example whatever Harry and Louis seemed to have going on, which he was thankfully reminded with by Louis. Five seconds after walking in.

“Your friend is absolutely hilarious.” Niall was only confused for a moment, neither of them had even said as much as HELLO, but Louis seemed to be busy on his phone anyways, half lying on the spinning chair as if he had been here for hours already. To be fair, he probably had. God, did no one have ANYTHING to do, ever?! 

“I know. We’re friends.” Was all Niall said as he took off his hoodie, dropping his bag somewhere on the couch while trying his hardest not to become annoyed. At least Louis had something else to focus on now, which would hopefully keep him from asking about Liam some more. Then again, that was already over a week in the past now, surely it couldn’t stay interesting to him for that long anyways, and he should have known that he’d never get anything out of Niall anyways. “I might have to leave a bit sooner today, I gotta get May from a friend’s house at 6 or the mother is gonna kill me because apparently her kid can’t go to bed any later than 6.30.”

There was no answer, Louis just kept grinning at his phone continuing to text as if he was writing a novel to Harry and needed it done in 10 seconds. He probably was.

“So, I’m assuming that’s alright?” Niall asked as he sat down on the couch, still receiving no answer. “Louis?”

He was doing this on purpose, there was just no other explanation, he wasn’t fucking deaf, was he?

“Harry has a boyfriend.” Niall literally said the first thing that came to his mind, but at least it immediately made Louis look up.

“I- wait, what?” Seeing his face fall had almost been worth it. Almost.

“Nothing, I said I might have to leave earlier because M-“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Maybe Niall should have used this technique more often whenever he wanted something from Louis. “Harry has a boyfriend?”

“No. Would you care if he did, though?” See, Niall could play this game also, although he wasn’t sure if Louis would have cared being interrogated like that because usually it seemed he just enjoyed hearing himself talk a little too much. 

“No.” He answered immediately, which confused Niall for a moment because he had thought it was kinda a little, a LOT, obvious that these two were interested in each other somehow, but turned out that Louis was just ruthless. “You think I can’t take a boyfriend?”

“No, but I honestly think you’re insane.” Niall told him, a little shocked to be honest, but should he have been though? Like, _really?_ “You’d destroy someone’s relationship 4 days after you met them?”

“Why would it be my fault? It’s not like I’m forcing it on him. In fact, he’s the one who asked you for my number, so if he HAD a boyfriend, which he doesn’t, then it’d be obvious he’s ready to move on.” Right. “And I’m your boss, you can’t say that I’m insane.”

“I just think it’s a little weird that you and him are hitting it off so well after spending like one hour together.” Okay, Niall really shouldn’t have said that because it was now even more obvious that he was really out of the loop. 

“We spent all day yesterday together, but I guess Harry didn’t tell you that.” Was this a competition now? 

“Okay, whatever, you still only met him on Sunday. It’s Wednesday and you’re talking about destroying his imaginary relationship.” This wasn’t normal, it just couldn’t be. Also, maybe Niall felt a little as if he was losing the plot because of all the stuff with Liam, so there was that as well. 

“Why do you sound so jealous?” Louis was grinning like an idiot, but not at his phone anymore, which was kinda pissing Niall off even more. “I thought you’ve known him since you were kids, it’s not like I’m stealing him from you.”

“I’m not jealous? He’s been in relationships before, but never with my boss, it’s… a little weird, especially because you literally just met.” It would have literally made things so weird if they started seeing each other and Niall felt like he would have deserved a little more time to prepare for it.

“I just don’t like to waste my time if I know I get on well with someone and it’s obvious that it’s mutual. I mean, what would we wait for? Until we’re 30 or something?” It made sense, what he was saying, but Niall couldn’t relate in any way at all. Not something he wanted to discuss with Louis though, especially not right now. “Tell you what, if you get too jealous I’ll borrow you my best friend to hang out with instead.”

“Who?” Niall was genuinely confused for a second there, but also slightly irritated, especially because Louis was so amused when he answered.

“Liam?” Right.

“It’s not like I don’t have other friends.” Niall could always just invite Zayn over for dinner because he’d be there, 5 days a week if Niall had asked him, 6 maybe, because he couldn’t go out on Sunday’s, but then he’d have to explain to May why they had to whisper and why uncle Zayn had a really terrible headache every Sunday. “I didn’t know he’s your _best_ friend.”

“I mean, I guess we’re a bit too old for words like that, but… I’d say he is. There’s a lot you don’t know. Regarding Liam, I mean.” Was he trying to brag?

“Okay? I also don’t really care, so… “ There was also a lot Louis didn’t know, so Niall found it easy to ignore that comment. “What is this right here? Are we fighting over who has more friends now? I mean, not that I mind, you’re literally paying me for it.”

“We’re not f- wait, you’re right, these guys are already 5 minutes late.” So that ended the conversation because Louis was suddenly all upset, making sure to call up the guys who had booked in, but they showed up like 2 minutes later anyways. 

It was an uneventful time, Niall did have to leave a bit earlier to pick up May, letting himself be convinced to get some takeout on the way home because as it turned out, she had only gotten a snack at this kid’s house, bloody hours ago. Another parent that got a mental cross next to their name on the ever growing list of people Niall would think twice before allowing them to watch his daughter.

 

\----------------------

 

Liam felt pathetic but also nervous when he woke up at 5 in the morning, without even having put an alarm. It’s not that he had gone to bed so early, but lately he hadn’t been sleeping well and he usually preferred early work outs anyways, so he didn’t mind too much when he couldn’t fall back asleep. Also, at least the work out took his mind off a little though he genuinely contemplated telling Niall that he had changed his mind, that something had come up, before simply ignoring him for the rest of their lives.

But he knew he’d never be able to do that anyways, he hadn’t even been able to wait a full fucking day before thinking it’d be a great idea to slip Niall his number, through Louis out of all people, but like… he had left it up to Niall to text him, and he had, so… maybe that was a sign. Maybe Liam was also losing his mind a little.

It was 8:45 in the morning by the time Liam started to freak out a little, because he knew Niall only had time until 11 obviously, and that he must have been driving home right now from dropping his daughter off at school. So if Liam really wanted to do this, then he’d have to do it in the next 15 minutes or so.

Obviously he could have just called Niall, but he didn’t because one, it would have been weird to just do it and two, Liam had actually done fucking research just for this, so he would have felt even more stupid had he let it go to waste. Also three, he was less nervous texting than calling, not in general or anything, but he was aware how weird all of this must have been for Niall. Because it was also really weird for himself.

 

_To Niall 8:59  
Hi, if you still have time to talk, would it be ok if we met in louis studio? Hes at his office all day today working on an article. Its really cool if you don’t want to_

 

Liam made sure to add the last part to give Niall an easy way out, but he also hated himself a little bit for it when he sent the message, slightly terrified about him actually taking advantage of that. But then again, he didn’t seem like the kinda person who would go back on their word and he was actually the one who had told Liam he’d be free today.

Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for Niall to answer and though Liam felt a little desperate, he confirmed after literally 2 seconds.

 

_Niall 9:04  
I can be there in 20 minutes, depends on the traffic, is that alright?_

 

\------------------------

 

Niall was late, as he had already kinda expected it, but it’s not like Liam could have gotten mad at him because he was doing him a favor after all. Even though it felt a little cocky to think that his pure presence and his completely irrelevant advice was actually worth anyone’s time, but it’s not like Niall was forcing this upon Liam or anything, it was exactly the other way around.

“Hi, sorry, the traffic was really bad.” Niall lied, pretending as if he hadn’t also sat in the car for at least five minutes before, trying to collect himself internally. A little bit at least, but upon walking in and seeing Liam, it all seemed to have been for nothing. Had he honestly made himself look nice for this occasion or did he always look like this? Niall hadn’t even showered. 

“No problem, thanks for coming.” Liam seemed to mean it though his posture seemed a little stiff, as if he felt uncomfortable. Or maybe he was embarrassed, because honestly… Niall would have been if he had been him. “I know this is a little… strange.”

“Well… “ Niall started, wanting to deny it just to make Liam feel better, but then he stopped as he let himself fall on the couch, simply shrugging instead. “Maybe a little. Thanks again for the merch, May hasn’t been wearing anything else for three days.”

“You’re welcome, I’m glad she likes it … so Louis gave it to you so soon? Because he didn’t even tell me.” Right… that hadn’t been a smart thing to say, also because Liam now knew that Niall hadn’t texted him immediately but had rather waited 3 entire days. And then had only done it after seeing those pictures of him and reading the article. 

“Oh… I told him to tell you thank you though, maybe he forgot.” Probably because of Harry, but Niall really wasn’t here to talk about that right now, he had had already had enough of that yesterday. “So, what’s going on with you?”

“Well… “ Suddenly it seemed as if Liam really regretted all this, and Niall wouldn’t have been mad if he had just left again and suggested they forget about it. Of course Niall kinda cared in some way or he wouldn’t have even texted Liam, but also… they hardly knew each other. “I tried to take your advice a-“

“Oh my god, why?!” Niall couldn’t help his small outburst, suddenly seeing his life flashing before his eyes as he thought about how he’d explain to May that HE was the reason Liam was giving up his entire career.

“It was good advice?” Liam seemed a little confused, which was a good thing, because that had to mean he wasn’t gonna sue Niall anytime soon. “I talked to my manager and stuff, I tried to be a bit more relaxed about everything and… I don’t know, I felt better somehow, so I wanted to say thank you for that. And for staying until 3 in the morning.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to thank me. You’ve done a lot to make May happy, so… “ Maybe that had been rude, because it was kinda implying Niall was only here for that. Which he wasn’t, but he also didn’t want Liam to think he was that desperate to help, so he didn’t clarify it. “Can I ask you something though?”

“Yeah, sure.” Liam answered immediately, probably not afraid that Niall would be joking around again asking him about his dogs like he had a week ago. Then again, the situation right now was really different and a little more serious somehow. Also, Niall wasn’t over-tired. 

“Not that I mind it, but… why did you think it was a good idea to put your number in that hoodie? Chances of me putting it in the wash and never finding it were pretty high.” He must have thought about that though, right? He wasn’t an idiot after all.

“I don’t know, I was terrified that Louis would find it and… I thought if you didn’t find it then whatever, at least I tried.” What was that supposed to mean?

“Why?” Was all Niall asked after a moment, because suddenly he had a really weird feeling about all of this. Like, even weirder than before. “Also, why did you tell Louis that we met in the first place? He tried to interrogate me for ten minutes, it was really annoying.”

This time, Liam actually looked away from Niall, as if he hadn’t heard him or something, but it seemed he simply didn’t know what to say. What was going on with this man, seriously?

“Are you alright? I wasn’t planning on telling you, but the reason I texted you was actually because I saw this article about you yesterday… and some pictures where it looked like you were crying.” Had that been insensitive? Not more than the last time though and Liam apparently hadn’t minded that so whatever. “Is that why you wanted to talk?”

“Kinda… “ Okay, Liam was worse than a child when it came to getting information out of him, it was like he wanted Niall to keep on pushing and asking without ever actually getting to the point himself. Niall wasn’t annoyed though, he was actually just worried watching Liam fidgeting and playing with his fingers, still wondering in the back of his head though how it had come to that. Had he met Liam like this, never having heard of him, Niall wouldn’t have believed he was a celebrity, much less someone who regularly sang in front of thousands of people. “I don’t know why I did that. Put my number in the hoodie for May, I mean.”

“Um, okay, whatever, I… I didn’t mind it. What’s going on though? Like, really?” Niall’s time was a little limited as well, he had about an hour left until he’d have to leave. 

Liam again avoided the question somehow, instead he just leaned back against the couch, rubbing his hands across his face before FINALLY spitting it out. “I’m just really stressed out. And whenever I’m stressed I do really stupid things, like hook up with a bunch of people or get drunk on a regular basis, and I don’t tell anyone about it, not even Louis, because… it’s not like anyone could make me NOT stressed out anymore. And now this damn song flopped and… fuck, I don’t know why I told you about all this last week, but I felt a lot better afterwards and… it’s kinda nice that I know you don’t care about who I am. That you wouldn’t even know me if it weren’t for your daughter and… talking to you made me feel better, so I thought… “

“Okay… why were you crying though? What’s up with that article?” Niall was trying to process what Liam was really trying to say, but it was hard to actually believe him. There was nothing special about Niall, or whatever he had told Liam, had no ever just straight up told him the truth?

“Well, the article is crap and it isn’t true and I didn’t think there were any paps, but I also didn’t think it’d be that obvious and- anyways, nothing happened, nothing you didn’t already know at least.” Right. “And I’m sorry I told Louis and that he was getting on your nerves.”

“It’s not like you gotta apologize to me, you were the one who wanted to keep it a secret.” The younger man reminded him and Liam just nodded, not looking at Niall though. “So, what’s your plan now? To make things better, I mean?”

“Well, I’m working on my new album now in hopes that it won’t also flop and I’m rehearsing for the second part of my tour and… that’s the only plan.” Liam concluded, throwing the shortest look at Niall when he was finished. As if he was afraid the younger man would tell scold him or something. “Actually, I feel really stupid for asking you to waste your time talking to me and I don’t actually have anything to say, I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, I’m already here anyways and I told you I’ve got nothing else to do right now. Also, if it’s making you feel better if we just talk about anything at all then we can do that, I don’t mind it.” Niall just didn’t know what more advice to give Liam because… he was really uninformed first of all, and second of all, he couldn’t help him to write an album, could he? 

“I also don’t wanna get on your nerves though, I mean, I don’t want you to feel obliged to sit around here because I gave your daughter some merch and whatever, it really wasn’t any trouble. And you don’t owe me anything or whatever.” God, could he stop trying to make Niall leave?

“Liam.” Niall said it firmly, sitting up more straight and waiting until Liam was finally looking at him. “Shut up, okay? We’re adults, I think we should be able to act like normal people around each other and just say what we mean. And I mean it when I say I didn’t mind coming, I’m just a bit confused by everything.”

“I know. I’m s- I know. Okay. Do you wanna know the truth?” Oh god, did he? 

“Do I?” Niall asked after a moment, and Liam let out a quick laugh, but it didn’t sound very amused. “Okay, just go for it.”

“Okay. I, um… I made like, a few changes last year, regarding my personal life and… so I don’t really have that many close friends left. And then all this stuff happened as well and… I sound really desperate right now, don’t I?” A little. “Anyways, yeah… I think maybe I couldn’t stop thinking about our conversation because it’s been a while since I was able to really forget about everything and feel normal for a bit. Obviously everyone I know knows me and they’re somehow involved and… but you’re not, not really.”

“So… are you asking me if I wanna be friends?” Was this really happening right now?

“I mean-“

“It’s kind of an insult that you’re thinking about it now, just saying.” Niall joked, but mostly to overplay his own nervousness. What the fuck? “I’d be cool with it, even though it’d be bloody weird and Louis is going to find out about it in no time, just to prepare you. And my daughter is kinda in love with you and my work schedule is all over the place. But so is yours, I guess.”

“Are you… are you being serious?” Liam actually looked positively surprised, but what had he expected, that Niall was going to tell him they couldn’t ever see each other again?

“Um, yeah? Why would I not be? Where’s the big deal?” Well… the answer to that question was kinda obvious, but… whatever. Whatever they had going on, Niall kinda didn’t have enough nerves and time to dance around it, so he’d rather just be straight forward. Much like Louis was being with Harry, but that was very different. And a lot stranger. Mostly because THEY were strange, but anyways. “Good thing is we can skip the first few stages of getting to know each other because I know everything about you.”

“I, uh… I don’t know anything about you though.” Right. “Are you sure this isn’t… weird?”

“It IS weird, Liam, we’re grown adults discussing if we can be friends, you’re a celebrity, my daughter’s crush and my boss’ best friend and I paid 300 pounds so May could spend 5 seconds with you. But apart from all that… it’s really not that weird.” Even if it was, who cared? No one knew about it. “You can decide though, I was just offering.”

“No, I… we could try it. Like… being friends or whatever.” Or whatever?! “Do you… do you want those 300 pounds back?”

“Um… let’s not start like that.” Let’s just pretend Liam hadn’t said that and let’s pretend Niall hadn’t wanted to say yes. 

“Okay, sorry, I just thought I’d-“

“Don’t think.” Niall interrupted jokingly, but he also kind of meant it a little because it felt like Liam overthought a lot of things that weren’t actually that big of a deal. “I don’t think it’s a good idea we’re using Louis’ studio to hang out, actually. I mean… it’s kinda my working place and he’s the one paying rent and everything, also I’m a little afraid he’s just gonna come bursting in here.”

“He won’t, he’s at his office today working on articles, but if you feel uncomfortable then we can go somewhere else, um, next time.” Liam said the last bit really quickly, as if he wasn’t sure there’d be a next time and honestly thinking about it felt a little weird to Niall as well. Kind of surreal, but not like in a way that he found it so amazing, just that it was _Liam_. “I’m gonna think of something.”

For a second, Niall almost suggested his own place, out of habit really, but then he remembered who Liam was and how much May liked him and how much more complicating this whole thing would have gotten, so he stuck to nodding instead, trying to process all of this. Had it been a good idea to offer Liam that they could, like, be friends? Not that Niall could take it back now, but… he did have a few worries, because of May, and the general situation, but then again, Louis was also friends with Liam and he wasn’t being dragged into any aspect of Liam’s life. According to him, at least. 

“I still think you should tell Louis. Like, everything. He’s going to find out anyways.” No idea how, but it seemed he was creepily good at reading people. No idea how Liam still thought he could keep a secret from him after knowing him for so long. “I mean, it’s not like we did anything super interesting, we just talked. And we’re just talking now, and he’s your best friend and he’s just gonna get onto our nerves. Also, if he ever founds out he’s gonna think there really is some secret we’ve kept from him.”

“I know, but… I haven’t thought about it in too much detail. I didn’t think you’d text me.” Well, he had almost been right with that. “I might tell him, but I’m gonna warn you beforehand, no worries.”

“Thank you so much.” Niall rolled his eyes a bit, making Liam laugh and he felt a bit of relief spreading in his body. He was aware that he couldn’t really help Liam with his problems, he could really only offer to… be there? “He’s really busy with other things right now though, which is kinda my fault.”

“What do you mean?” Liam sounded alarmed, though there literally was no reason to and Niall kinda wanted to take it back, but now he had already started so whatever. 

“He came to my place to give me the merch you gave him for May and then he stayed for a bit, but then one of my friends came by because he locked himself out and, long story short, they’re sorta… really into each other? Which… I can see, but also, they’ve only met 4 days ago.” Louis had explained it to Niall and it had actually made sense, but if Niall thought about it in more detail and if he now considered that he and Liam might possibly actually become friends… this whole constellation was just getting bloody awkward. 

“Oh god, I hate when Louis is dating someone, it’s really annoying. Nothing against your friend or anything, it’s Louis who is making it annoying.” Now that just made Niall feel so much better.

“At least you don’t work for him. I’m afraid one day I’m just gonna say something super rude and cross the line and he’s gonna fire me. Literally anyone else who went to uni for more than 3 seconds would be a better fit than me anyways.” Well, not ANYONE, but Niall wasn’t being serious anyways. Although Liam seemed to take it that way anyways.

“He wouldn’t do that, he really likes you. I mean, if he can’t afford it anymore then he’d have to, I guess, but otherwise I literally don’t think you could say anything at all to make him fire you.” At least that was a little comforting, but Niall didn’t really have the chance to say anything because it seemed Liam was more interested in other things. “So, you did go to uni?”

“Uh, yeah, I studied music engineering for one semester, but it was like… I didn’t really ever go, and I didn’t take it serious, at all. I actually met May’s mother there, well, and you know the rest of the story.” So really, going to university had kind of screwed with Niall’s entire future plan. Then again, there hadn’t been a guarantee he wouldn’t have dropped out otherwise, so… 

“Do you think you ever wanna go back?” Why did everyone ask that?

“No, I don’t think so. I also wasn’t that great of a student in school, like not that I was struggling, I just didn’t care. And I don’t think I will ever care enough about academia to really succeed at it.“ Though Niall could now understand why his parents had wanted him to do well in school and go to university, because he felt the same way about May now, but the thing was… it just wasn’t for everybody. And there was nothing wrong with that. “What about you?”

“What, you don’t know that?” Liam joked, making Niall roll his eyes but he felt a smile tugging on his lips.

“I know you went to the X factor when you were 16 and then all this happened, yeah, but I assume you had other plans before that. Unless you’re able to see the future or something.” Or maybe he had just been THAT confident. 

“I wanted to be a fire fighter or study mechanical engineering, I’m surprised you didn’t know that, I’ve said it in countless interviews.” Was he seriously trying to make Niall feel guilty for that?

“May has only been a fan for 2 years, give me a break, okay? I’ve seen more interviews of you than the average person, pretty sure. Jesus… “ Niall shook his head, pretending to be really annoyed while Liam was just laughing. Which was good, because his mood seemed to have brightened quite a lot compared to before. “Does being your friend include you quizzing me on all your public appearances to check whether I’ve been keeping up?”

“Definitely, yeah. But I’m only doing random monthly check-ups so you got time to catch up.” He actually sounded anything but serious because he was still laughing and Niall tried not to join but he kinda couldn’t stop himself, not because he found it so funny but rather because seeing Liam this amused was really making it hard to not be infected by him.

Niall had to admit that maybe he was kinda glad that he was here instead of at home waiting until he had to go to work.

 

\------------

 

“We have a problem.” Louis was again being over dramatic, so Niall didn’t even look up.

“You showing up at my place uninvited?” Because it kinda felt like Niall could have just given him a key at this point? Because why was it Sunday again and Louis was here, not even having looked for an excuse this time?

“No-“

“The fact that I still didn’t get my paycheck and it’s the 17th?” Oh, Niall could have just kept GOING. 

“I told you I forgot, I’m gonna-“

“You buying my daughter three packs of candy and actually expecting me to give it to her?” He had really gone to that grocery store and to the candy isle and decided that yes, it’d be a great fucking idea to get a 6 year old not one, not even two, but THREE packs of gummy bears. AND pay it with the money that he should have actually put in Niall’s account SEVENTEEN days ago. Who did that?

“Okay, can you shut up?” The older man sounded annoyed now when actually, it should have been Niall who was annoyed. Then again, it was Sunday and May was at her other grandparents’ house, which Niall had accidentally told Louis and now… this was happening. “You’re gonna get your money, I already transferred it last night, it just takes a while for the bank to process it.”

“Mhm.” Was all Niall made, not looking up from his phone though. Ever since he had met with Liam on Thursday and had almost been late to work because he had forgotten the time, the older man was constantly texting him and Niall had to admit that he didn’t mind it at all. Liam was quite funny, and they got along well and… it’s been a while since Niall met someone randomly and they had just hit it off. As friends, of course. And Louis was excluded from that because… he was Niall’s boss. And he was just weird. 

“We still got a problem.” Louis interrupted the silence again, so Niall forced himself to turn his head. “This guy that was gonna come in next week… he just cancelled.”

“You still gotta pay me for the hours I already worked even if-“

“Oh my god! I already transferred the money last night, okay?” Okay, why was he yelling now? “It’s still a problem because he was the only one who was gonna come.”

“Well, it can’t always go well, right? I’m sure someone else is gonna come.” Maybe not, Niall honestly didn’t care anymore, he enjoyed his job there and everything, but it was really just some extra money he was making on the side. And he wasn’t even making it regularly. 

“Can you stop pretending it’s just my problem and not yours as well?” But it WAS?!

“It’s your studio, not mine. I mean, I’d feel bad, for the both of us, but just because there is no booking for a week doesn’t mean you need to get all dramatic over it. You’re worse than Li- Harry.” Oh god. No. No, Niall had not just done that.

“Wait… what were you just about to say?” SHIT.

“Nothing? You’re worse than Harry and he can be quite the drama queen as well.” Not really, but what had Niall been supposed to do? Fuck, as if he had really just almost said Liam’s fucking name in front of Louis. 

“You were gonna say Liam.” Jesus Christ.

“No? Why would I have said that? That makes no sense.” Niall was being a little bit too suspicious, alright, but Louis didn’t have to always ask so many questions, did he? 

“I don’t know, but you literally almost said it and Harry isn’t a drama queen, so?” The thing was, Louis leaning forward and being all excited almost, as if he was about to uncover the greatest secret of all time, really pissed Niall the fuck off. 

“So, _what?_ So now you’re gonna interrogate me for 3 hours and think I’ve got some big ass secret to hide? You’re fucking paranoid, and you need to get your ears checked or something. Plus, you know Harry since _a week_ , so how would you even know that, huh? Right, you can’t. I’m gonna go and get dinner started now because May’s grandparents’ can’t fucking cook and I don’t care what you do, but if you stay then just know I won’t answer any more of these questions.” And then Niall got up, hating himself for indirectly having given Louis confirmation to his suspicions, but whatever. He had already messed it up before.

How was it Niall’s fault though, that Liam was constantly on his mind because he was texting him so often?! A slip up had been bound to happen, no one could blame him for it. Especially not Liam himself.

Louis didn’t follow him to the kitchen immediately, which, first of all, was already kinda rude because this was NIALL’s place and second of all, Louis was the one who needed to apologize, so why was he acting like a baby about it? Also, why was it that suddenly Niall was involved in so much personal drama, like his life had been just fine before, maybe stressful, but suddenly… suddenly he had too many friends. When exactly had that even happened?

“Look, I’m sorry.” Louis started and Niall didn’t turn around while chopping vegetables because he didn’t feel like it, simple as that. “Do you wanna know the truth why I keep asking about Liam?”

“Not really.” Niall admitted, because he honestly didn’t, he could imagine it quite well.

“Okay.” But he hadn’t expected Louis to just give in and genuinely not carry on.

“… fine. Tell me then.” The younger boy changed his mind, now even more annoyed if that was even possible. 

The older man clearly had to suppress a laugh and Niall could hear him sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs, but he still decided not to turn around. “He’s been going through some stuff. Liam, I mean.”

“Okay?” So Louis knew about it, why wasn’t he talking to Liam then? What kinda friends were they? “What’s that got to do with me?”

“Nothing. Except, maybe, I don’t know. Thing is whenever Liam is going through something, which happens quite a bit, he doesn’t wanna talk about it and he wants to deal with it all on his own and… it doesn’t always end so well.” Was he referring to the drinking and the one night stands? Probably, but it’s not like Niall could have asked, so he also decided not to care. He still did though, deep down. “So, you can maybe understand why I was a little confused that he randomly decided to drive to the studio in the middle of the night and I was asking you about it because I thought maybe he told you something.”

“Why would he tell me? He doesn’t even know me.” Clearly that wasn’t stopping Liam from anything. “Also, you gave him keys to the studio, why did you do that anyways?”

“Because it’s smart to give a spare key to someone you trust?” Right. “It’s something you and Harry should maybe discuss as well.”

“Well, he can come straight to you now if he ever locks himself out again, right?” Niall asked sarcastically, almost cutting himself in the finger but pulling it away last second. “Also, my parents have a spare key to my place, and I only got two. Anyways, Liam didn’t tell me anything and there’s also nothing interesting to say about any of it, so you can keep asking but you won’t receive a different answer. Because there’s nothing to tell.”

“Okay, if you say so. I’m just worried about him, that’s all.” Great, did he have to make Niall feel bad now?

“So why are you talking to me about it and not with him?” Seriously, how old were they, 12?

“Because he doesn’t want to. And because it somehow feels like you’re a good person to tell problems to.” Now Niall DID turn around to look at Louis in confusion because… what? 

“Why?” Everyone seemed to think that as well though. Especially Liam. Also Zayn with his medical emergencies. And sometimes even Harry. Yeah and that was about it with people Niall talked to regularly.

“I don’t know, ‘cos you’re a dad, I think. It makes you more compassionate somehow, or at least it feels like it, like I know you wouldn’t just judge me for stupid shit. And you’ve got a more realistic outlook on life than most people I know who are a lot older and it makes you kinda appear more mature? If that makes sense.” Was he… complimenting Niall right now?

“Um, okay, well… thanks, I guess? I mean, I try.” So now Niall felt a bit weird and his face was getting hotter so he turned around again, not really liking how this conversation had gotten all serious all of a sudden. 

“So that’s why I thought maybe Liam talked to you.” That was exactly why Liam had talked to Niall, wasn’t it? God, why was Louis so damn good at guessing? “But it’s true, he doesn’t know you… maybe I’m gonna invite you both over to my place.”

“I’m busy.” It just kinda slipped out, kind of as a joke, but Niall also meant it a little. He didn’t want this, it would have just gotten awkward. “Louis, he is your friend, just talk to him if you’re worried, what do you need _me_ for?”

“I just thought maybe he’d be more likely to talk to someone who isn’t at all involved in his life. Someone far away from his fame or whatever. I mean, you know him and stuff, but only because of May, you wouldn’t care otherwise and… I think maybe that’s why he doesn’t talk about his problems, because all his friends and family, me included, have been there for years and he’s the kinda person who thinks he’s getting on everyone’s nerves.” He really was that kinda person, wasn’t he? “But then again also… “

“What?” Honestly, what more could there possibly be?!

“I was also a little worried that maybe… that maybe you talked and he liked you a bit… too much.” Okay, what the fuck?

“Honestly, can we just stop talking about it? Nothing happened. Just talk to Liam, and leave me out of it. Please.” Niall was seriously done, he wouldn’t go behind Liam’s back and tell Louis what he knew, so he just wanted the older man to fucking stop so he wouldn’t have to keep on lying because it was slightly exhausting. Also, if Louis was going to suggest now that Liam _liked_ Niall, then Niall didn’t even want to only imagine what he’d say if he knew about all the other stuff. Like the phone number especially. Or the fact that all while he had been here Niall had been texting Liam at the same time. 

“Okay, yeah, sorry, I’m done.” Thank GOD. “Do you need help?”

Niall didn’t need any help, but he let Louis believe that he did and after a few minutes of playing that game, he realized that Louis was probably right. He definitely WAS that friend who treated everyone like a child pretty much, but only because he genuinely meant well. And apparently, that seemed to somehow make everyone think they needed to come to Niall with every single one of their problems. In Zayn’s case, really with EVERY problem, but that was a different story.

 

\----------------

 

The first time Liam called Niall was only a few days later, and Niall thought about not picking up the phone because he was really surprised, but then he obviously did because he would have done it without thinking had it been anyone else. Just like a normal fucking person, right?

“Hi, what’s up?” Niall put him speaker because he was actually busy working on his laptop right now, having gotten a little behind with the Emails, so he was using his time today to catch up. It was only 9.30 in the morning, so he still had loads of time before he’d have to get May from school and then try not to get caught up in traffic driving to the school he was giving guitar lessons at.

“Hi, nothing. Is this a bad time?” This was the first time they were speaking to each other, like not including text messages, since almost a week, but Liam’s voice sounded different through the phone and Niall felt like he had gotten to know him better, so he actually didn’t at all mind it. It didn’t even feel half as weird as he would have thought before answering the call. 

“No, I’m just answering some Emails, but I’ve got loads of time to do that. What’re you doing?” There had to be a reason he had called, right?

“I’m grocery shopping, actually.” Liam said it casually, as if it was no big deal, and with anyone else it wouldn’t have been but Niall couldn’t help but be confused.

“You… you actually go out and do grocery shopping?” How?

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I do that?” The other man sounded confused as well, there were some noises in the background and Niall wondered why Liam had decided to call him. Just randomly? 

“I don’t know, because people might see you?” This was maybe the biggest reason why Niall had had a few worries this past week, ever since he and Liam had started talking more. The thing was… they were trying to keep this a secret, at least from Louis, but somehow they also had to keep it a secret from the entire world and that stressed Niall out just a tad. Mostly because of May though, he would have to tell her at some point, but then again, he was an adult, she was 6, it’s not like he always told her whatever he did in his free time, who he hung out with. Yes, she loved Liam, but she was also a little girl and knowing that her dad was kinda friends with her celebrity crush… it wouldn’t have been the smartest idea, to put it the nicest way.

“Maybe, but- wait, did you think I never go anywhere at all because I’m afraid someone might see me?” Well…

“Um, kind of? I never thought about it in too much depth. I just assumed you got people doing stuff for you and that you just do your shopping online or something.” Which would have been one sad and awful life, so why had Niall thought that? 

“And that I just sit on my couch all day?” Liam joked, clearly moving around in the background and it kinda reminded Niall that he still had to write a grocery list as well. 

“Maybe? I wouldn’t know.” Niall wasn’t exactly a celebrity expert. Though he was on the way to becoming one, kinda without wanting to. 

“I don’t. I might when this album is finally done though.” They weren’t really talking about any of that usually, they rather talked about normal things, which made Niall forget who Liam actually was quite a lot. But then he walked into May’s room and it all came back on an instant. 

“How’s that going?” Niall had no idea about the process of course, but he assumed it must have taken quite a while. Also, Liam seemed to be really obsessed with only putting out songs he thought were actually amazing, so he probably took even longer.

“Alright so far. I’m only gonna start having breakdowns over it when it’s almost finished, but I won’t complain too much when that happens, I promise- shit. Sorry.” There had been a noise, and Liam had obviously dropped something in the background.

“What was that?” Niall tried to hold back his laughter because it might have been serious, but it surely didn’t sound like it.

“Nothing, I just bumped into someone and they dropped something. I’m walking away now. That was really embarrassing.” He was whispering, like a child that was afraid of getting caught and Niall had to bite the inside of his cheek. 

“You can’t just walk away after making someone drop all their stuff.” Niall said it playfully of course, but he had already expected Liam to answer as if he was trying to defend himself.

“It was literally one item, okay? I said sorry. Stop laughing.” The younger man hadn’t been able to hold himself any longer, just because Liam was taking it so seriously somehow. “… do you think I should go back?”

“No, just make sure you leave quickly.” Great advice, right? “So back to your album writing… I don’t mind if you complain, if it’s gonna make you feel better.”

“Yeah, no, it wouldn’t, so… it’d just be annoying for everyone involved really. It’s better for me if I just try and pull myself together.” Exactly what Louis had said about him, and Niall thought about what to answer, but Liam never really gave him the chance to dwell on it. Probably on purpose. “Do you have to work today?”

“I mean, I’m working right now. But yeah, I’m giving guitar lessons later, but only for 2 hours… but I gotta take May with me so that’s gonna be interesting.” She usually managed to keep herself busy for the first hour, but after that, she got bored terribly quickly and it was sometimes a challenge to convince her not to interrupt Niall every 5 seconds when he was talking to the student. “Do you? have to work, I mean.”

“Kind of… someone is coming over later to write a bit and I gotta go to an event tonight… and I’m not really looking forward to that.” He sounded quite like it too and once again Niall was reminded that Liam wasn’t just a normal person. It was always a kind of weird feeling to think about that so suddenly. 

“Why not?” Niall had stopped trying to concentrate on the Emails now, he was just leaning back on the couch, trying to keep an eye on the time though.

“Because it’s gonna take ages and then I’ll only be home at 2 in the morning. And I gotta prepare before that and get dressed and, yeah. But it’s fine, it’s not like I’m not used to it.” After so many years, he kinda had to be, but Niall would have also understood had he gotten bored of it. He himself had had quite a few jobs in his life and there had been a few he had simply grown tired of. 

“I’m sure May is gonna be super excited to make me look up all the pictures of you.” And hopefully he wouldn’t be drunk this time, but Niall didn’t say that obviously.

“Why? I thought you said I was already old news to her.” Liam sounded genuinely confused, which also confused Niall in return because…

“Then why did you get her all of your new merch?” This was just getting more confusing.

“Ummm… “ The older man didn’t answer for a few seconds, and even when he did, he didn’t sound very confident. “Because I already had it, so… I thought you could always say no or give it to someone else, like… I didn’t know what else to do with it.”

“You already had everything in her size?” Okay, normally Niall wouldn’t have kept on pushing when Liam was clearly already uncomfortable, but… 

So there was more silence, except for the noises in the grocery store and Liam moving in the background, and just when Niall thought about telling him that it didn’t matter, he did finally say it out loud. “I kinda told Louis the thing with the merch because I was about to tell him we met at the studio and then… I changed my mind so I had to make an excuse why I started talking about you. And then I still told him we met but he remembered the merch thing of course and... and I knew I couldn’t have ever asked him for your number or anything and… so, yeah.”

“Oh.” So he had been so desperate to give Niall his number he had immediately gone out to get merch, the very next day? Or maybe even the same day? “Okay… sorry, I kept on asking.”

“It’s fine, really.” Liam answered immediately and Niall didn’t fucking know why but he suddenly had to imagine his face getting blushed like it had when they had met up as well. It wasn’t his fault he knew Liam’s face so well, was it? “Anyways, uh, so your daughter is still a fan? You weren’t just joking last Thursday?”

“No?” Niall had to admit he was slightly worried what Liam was going to suggest now, but as it turned out, he was asking for a completely different reason.

“Okay, I- but… then how is this ever gonna work?!” Was he genuinely stressing out now? “I mean… us like… being friends. Or whatever.”

“Okay, you really need to drop the _whatever_ whenever you say that.” Niall joked, but he also kinda meant it. They were friends. Kind of. At least they were on the right way. “Why’s it matter? She’s a child, Liam.”

“I know that, but… you’re her dad. And… won’t it, like… kind of influence her trust in you?” Okay, where was this coming from? “I mean, if she likes me, and you’re talking to me the entire time and not telling her about it and-“

“She is 6. I don’t tell her a lot of things, especially about my private life. And I don’t plan on keeping it from her forever.” Niall was just kinda waiting to see where it was going, but he couldn’t tell Liam that because he felt like the older man wouldn’t have taken it too well. “Unless you never wanna meet her. As one of my friends, I mean.”

“Um, no, of course, it’s not about me at all. I don’t mind whatever you decide, I was just… worried. But she’s your daughter obviously, so, sorry, I didn’t wanna get too personal.” Liam REALLY liked to apologize, didn’t he? As if he was afraid Niall would hang up the phone immediately if he didn’t.

“You don’t have to apologize, Liam. It’s a valid worry, I guess, I was thinking about it as well, but… you know, maybe when I do tell her and she gets more used to you just being her dad’s friend then she’s gonna stop liking you anyways.” And then Niall would save himself a lot of money and worries. “Then again… she’d definitely tell Louis. And all of her friends. And my friends. And my parents. And-“

“Okay, maybe we should discuss this when the time comes.” Now Liam sounded scared, and he should have been, honestly, because now Niall was scared as well. A little. “This is complicated.”

“Kind of.” Niall had to agree with Liam, because as easy as it had seemed at first, he was now suddenly thinking of a lot of things that could have gone wrong, and pretty much influenced his entire life somehow? At least his privacy. But then again, Louis managed to keep out of all of it as well, so… anyways, it was a little too late for worries, wasn’t it? “But it’s fine, we’ll handle it. Are you still at the grocery store?”

“Wh- yeah. I got a bit distracted, I’ve just been walking around the wrong aisles like an idiot.” Liam admitted, though Niall wasn’t too surprised. 

“Can you just buy and eat whatever you want? Or can you only eat super healthy and stuff?” The younger man decided to ask, to lighten the mood a little bit, and of course he had already expected Liam to be all fake shocked and telling him he could eat and do whatever he wanted, but at least it made for some nicer conversation topics.

They talked on the phone for probably an hour, even while Liam was at the self-checkout and driving home, putting Niall on speaker though of course. After they had said their goodbyes, Niall needed a few minutes to himself, being able to concentrate even less on the work he would have probably already finished had Liam not called.

Niall was kinda really glad that he had though.

 

\------------------------

 

“Daddy, can I sleep in your bed tonight?” May was kinda asking out of nowhere, she was playing in the bathtub while Niall was just sitting on the closed toilet to keep an eye on her. She could shower on her own, but whenever she asked to have bubble baths, he always stayed in the bathroom with her. Obviously, she was six. 

“Okay. What about your bed?” It was a weekday, so Niall wasn’t so sure if it was a good idea because she always slept in later when she was with him and he risked waking her a lot more, but he also couldn’t say no.

“Nothing. It’s more fun when I sleep in yours.” She explained, shrugging as she continued playing with her bathtub toys. 

Niall just accepted that answer because he didn’t mind, actually, he had to admit that whenever she asked to sleep in his bed, he felt his heart warming a bit. Of course he knew that she always wanted to be with him if she had had the chance, but it was still a really nice feeling to have her ask that somehow, letting him know that he wasn’t doing an all too terrible job as a parent.

May got a bit annoyed when Niall decided they needed to wash her hair tonight, complaining about getting shampoo in her eyes at least 50 times thought she clearly did not because Niall was already a pro. She also didn’t wanna get out of the water afterwards, so Niall had to convince her for a little, wrapping her up completely in her towel.

“I can’t move my arms.” The little girl was wiggling around a bit, trying to get out of the towel, but Niall was a lot faster. “Daddy!”

Niall had simply picked her up like this, making her giggle like crazy as he kissed her cheek a few times as he carried her out of the bathroom, blowing raspberries against her skin because she couldn’t push him away like this. It only made her laugh even harder because he was tickling her and Niall had to laugh as well because how could he have not?

He made sure to help May get dressed to quicken the process a little, making her brush her teeth while he was cleaning the bathroom and allowing her to play something on his phone while blow drying her hair. That was her least favorite part, and getting her hair brushed as well, so Niall had had to think of ways to make it easier. For the both of them.

He did lie down with May in his bed afterwards though he still needed to shower and get changed. They read in one of her books for maybe 10 minutes before the little girl had already passed out, her fingers still curled into Niall’s shirt though and he didn’t have the heart to unwrap them just yet. So instead, he decided to rest his eyes for a moment, only to fall tightly asleep as well.

When Niall woke up, he felt uncomfortable as hell, the light in the hallway was still turned on and May had long curled up on the other side of the bed. Plus, he was still wearing jeans, which was really the only reason why he even managed to convince himself to sit up. 

Niall blindly searched for his phone on the bedside table to check the time, the light blending him like crazy but he finally managed to make out the numbers. 03:25 in the morning. Great. 

It took another second before Niall was able to read the messages he had received while being asleep, one from his mother asking something cooking related, one from Zayn about whatever and… and one from Liam. Sent only an hour ago, probably when he had gotten home from this event he had told Niall about this morning.

Only… Niall wasn’t really sure if he was actually home, because the content of the message sounded a little as if he had gotten very drunk instead. Not that his spelling was off or anything, Niall kinda wished it would have been, but there was NO doubt what he meant and Niall suddenly felt really awake. And he also felt his stomach do some weird things and his mind go a little blank.

What?

_Liam 02:34  
Would you ever say yes if I asked you to go on a date with me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo here is the 6th chapter as promised! just one more time, the next chapter comes on the 15th, at around 10 pm gmt as usual and then the schedule just goes on normally! im only leaving tomorrow morning and i have to pull an all nighter so if you wanna leave me a comment tonight then im most likely going to answer it haha! after that it might take a bit, but i promise i will get to it when i can <3
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the last one as well! thank you for all the support <3


	7. Chapter 7

_To Niall 12:04  
Hey, sorry about the message last night, i was really drunk, i dont even remember writing it._

_To Niall 12:04  
And sorry for making it weird, I didn’t mean it _

_To Niall 12:05  
That sounded rude, I just didn’t mean to write that, sorry again_

_To Niall 12:05  
Not that I wanted to ask you that in general or anything, im not really myself when I drink too much_

_To Niall 12:05  
Sorry for all the messages_

 

When Liam had woken up, way too late because he had been out for so long, he hadn’t even noticed what he had done at first because Niall hadn’t texted him. It was just because he had literally seen his own message upon going to text someone else back and then he had started freaking out immediately and sent Niall a bunch of idiotic text messages he hadn’t even really thought through and there was no answer, probably because Niall was at work. So yeah, this was just GREAT, wasn’t it?

Liam and Niall had somehow slowly been starting to become friends and Liam just HAD had to go and screw it all up the very first chance he got. Somehow, he was pretty sure Niall would text him back all formal now, and then probably never again. It wasn’t even about Liam being upset that it was obvious Niall wouldn’t ever go on a date with him because he must have read that message in the morning and ignored it, but rather the fact that Liam suddenly didn’t know if maybe he HAD meant to ask that.

Then again, he knew Niall had said he didn’t actually wanna date, and he hadn’t dated anyone in YEARS, and also he was busy and furthermore, Liam didn’t even know if he was into guys. Well, not that it mattered, because he surely wasn’t into Liam, was he? Amazing, so once again, Louis’ dumb theories were becoming reality. Only this time, Liam was determined to keep it from him.

Not that there would be anything left to keep from him if Niall decided to never talk to Liam again, so yeah. Needless to say, all this combined with Liam’s headache from last night was just making for an amazing start to the day.

“Liam, you need to concentrate, we have to get this done. This was your last break, okay?” Someone from his team was coming to call him back from his break, that Liam had spent entirely on his phone even though no one had even texted him. But if Liam stopped lying to himself it wasn’t about _anyone_ , it was just about Niall and that was it. “You have to stop staying out for so long before photoshoots.”

“There was an after party.” How was it Liam’s fault that they had booked him an event and then a photoshoot the next day? But he also didn’t wanna be immature or start a fight, so he put his phone away, deciding to just suck it up. “Sorry, I’m gonna concentrate now.”

The photoshoot went alright, but also, Liam didn’t actually manage to forget about this stupid thing with Niall. Also not during the interview afterwards, but it wasn’t being recorded so it’s not like it truly mattered if his answers were a bit weird. Like, he was really trying, but his headache was killing him at this point.

When Liam got back home, it was around 5 in the evening and he had no more plans, so he basically just passed out on the couch for a bit, having some really weird dream about that event last night, being woken up kinda abruptly because his phone was going off right next to his head. Of course it was Louis, this was just perfect.

“What?” Liam had to clear his throat a couple times, not even bothering to open his eyes and he was pretty sure he would have fallen asleep straight away again had he not had the volume turned up so high on his phone.

“Why are you ignoring my texts?” Jesus. 

“I was taking a nap. What did you text me?” Honestly, Liam couldn’t be bothered to open his eyes right now and to read a message and Louis could have just freaking told him. It was probably really late by now, but it’s not like that mattered either.

“Are you coming to the studio later? I got a one hour break and I thought we could talk.” Sounded like a shit idea. “You just gotta make sure to somehow hide or leave when the guys that wanna record show up. Unless you don’t care if they see you.”

“When is later?” For all Liam knew, it might as well have been midnight or something. 

“At 7? That’s in an hour, in case you can’t read the time either.” It was a joke of course, but it still kinda pissed Liam off inside. He had been having one of the worst days ever, and actually now that he had been awake for a little longer, he suddenly remembered the thing with Niall as well and it kinda made him wanna get a new number. 

“Yeah, alright. But I don’t know if I’m gonna be good company or not, I was out kinda late.” At least Liam’s headache had slightly gotten better, but that would probably change in no time once he actually got up. “Why do you wanna talk?”

“No reason. I just don’t wanna be bored.” Sounded like a lie, and actually, Liam was about to hang up, but then he suddenly remembered something completely different.

“Don’t you have Niall there to keep you company?” Just saying his name out loud made Liam’s stomach turn at this point.

“No, he’s working somewhere else today so he can’t come.” Good. Also good for him because Liam was pretty sure Louis wasn’t really paying him that well. Not on purpose of course, but… “So see you in an hour?”

“Yeah, okay. Bye.” Liam then hung up, having forced his eyes to stay open for longer than 2 seconds just for that purpose, and once he was being confronted with whatever else except Louis’ messages had happened on his phone while he had been taking a nap, he really regretted it. 

 

_Niall 17:17  
No worries_

 

Okay, first of all… how much more obvious could he have gotten that he was done with Liam? Also, why did it made Liam kinda depressed even though they hadn’t even been friends or whatever you call that for very long. Actually, they had never even been friends, Niall had just taken pity on Liam, hadn’t he? Which was really pathetic considering that Liam was older than him and also was supposed to have his life together completely, at least on the outside, and yet he really didn’t and somehow Niall managed to have 4 jobs and a CHILD and he was the one giving Liam emotional support even though they didn’t even know each other well.

So maybe it was better this way, maybe it had never been meant to be anyways and Liam was just an idiot and needed to pull himself the fuck together. Advice he had also needed Niall for, but that was beside the point here. It was in the past anyways, nothing to change about it anymore now.

Liam really and genuinely tried his hardest to forget about Niall while forcing himself to change his clothes and maybe sort out his hair, and then he kinda had to leave already anyways because traffic. He did kinda manage to take his mind off, but only because he was so bloody tired that he was afraid he would crash into someone if he didn’t put 100% of what was left of his cognitive functions to focus on driving.

In the end, he got there a bit early, so he waited in the car until Louis texted him that whoever had been recording had left, just because… well, Liam wasn’t really in the mood for small talk. He also wasn’t in the mood to talk in general, but he had already told Louis he would come and he was already here and anyways, it was better than sitting at home sulking, right? Who even cared about whatever someone they hardly knew thought about them or if they wanted to be Liam’s friend. He was a grown adult, he had enough friends anyways.

“You look awful. I thought you wanted to quit the drinking for a bit?” Well, about that…

“Don’t patronize me.” Liam kinda hated how weird it felt to be sitting on that couch with Louis and not with Niall, but he would just have to roll with it because Niall wouldn’t ever wanna be sitting on that couch with him ever again. “I’m mostly tired, I didn’t even have that much to drink.”

“Are you sure?” Louis asked as if he already knew the truth, and Liam got paranoid for a moment that maybe Niall had told him about the text message and everything else along with it but… honestly, it didn’t seem as if he really cared or thought about Liam on a daily basis. And why would he have, anyways. “I can only offer you water, we didn’t buy a coffee machine yet.”

“We?” Liam already regretted asking one second later when it had sunk in.

“Me and Niall.” The other man clarified and for some reason, that kinda upset Liam though HE had been the one asking about it.

“Why would he have a say in the kinda coffee machine you get?” Seriously though?

Louis didn’t answer immediately, he just looked confused if anything, and then when he answered, Liam was pretty sure his face was getting slightly pinkish. “Why wouldn’t he? I thought you liked him?”

“I don’t even know him.” Liam lied immediately, just because he was so used to it. 

“Right.” Louis sounded suspicious, but honestly, when was he NOT suspicious?! He was usually also right, but there was no need for him to find out about that. Ever. “Anyways, do you want water?”

“No, thanks.” Liam wanted to go back home more than anything though he had literally been here for two minutes and would have to stay for at least 50 more. “So, how are you doing?”

And then Louis went on a rant and Liam simply zoned out, which had been the whole purpose of him asking, and it’s not like he didn’t care about what his friend had to say, but everyone knew that Louis just liked to hear himself talk sometimes and didn’t actually care if he only got answers consisting of “Mhm” and “Yeah”. Liam must have known, it had been like that since forever.

“… so that’s how I met Harry.” Right, Liam had to pretend he didn’t know about that.

“Who is Harry?” Had he already said that? Well, it was better to play dumb than to say too much on accident.

“A friend of Niall’s. I just told you.” Louis rolled his eyes and Liam kinda hoped he would be so annoyed he’d stop talking about this Harry guy, but no. “I should’ve asked him to come over, it would’ve been funny to introduce you guys.”

“In what world would that have been funny?” Pretty sure Niall’s friends gave no crap about Liam in any way, not as him as a public or a private person. Niall barely gave a shit either and he had obviously been trying hard. And then Liam had made him regret it big time probably. “Are you like… dating him or whatever?”

“No, I don’t know. We’re seeing each other on the weekend. Sorry, by the way, I have to cancel on Saturday.” Was he being serious?

“For this Harry guy?” So was Louis now ditching Liam to be in Niall’s friendship group instead? Because it quite seemed like it. 

“He doesn’t have time on any other d-“

“Well, I don’t either, so we can’t move it to Sunday, sorry.” Liam lied immediately, though that would mean he’d spend all of Sunday alone as well, but whatever. He’d just… call his mom. For 16 hours. 

“That’s alright, I might go to Niall’s place on Sunday anyways.” Okay… what the fuck? Was this actually for real or was Louis literally just trying to piss Liam off at this point?

“Are you like… into him or something?” Liam just couldn’t hold back anymore, like he knew it was a stupid idea to get pissed off and be so obvious about it but he just couldn’t stop himself. 

“No? I just told you about Har-“

“Are you into both of them?” WAS he?! 

“What? Me and Niall are friends, why is that suddenly a problem?” Because Liam was an idiot, that was why. And he was also really bad at keeping secrets, even his own.

“It’s not a problem, I’m just asking. I mean, if you and Niall and this Harry guy and whoever else are such good friends then why did you even call ME to come and keep you company? Were all the others busy or…?” Okay, Liam was definitely going too far, but he had only just gotten started.

“Jesus Christ, you’re worse than all my ex partners. Why are you that jealous?” The fact that Louis probably thought this was funny was only making Liam even more upset. Which was a normal reaction, right? One at least. 

“Why would I be jealous? I’m simply wondering why you’d call me if you got so many new friends.” A valid question, right? 

“I don’t have to go to Niall’s place on Sunday, I wasn’t aware you wanted to see me that badly. You’ve cancelled our plans at least 500 times in the past as well.” True, however…

“Um, but not because I wanted to hang out with somebody else instead? It was always work related things.” Most of the time, at least as far as Louis was aware, so… anyways.

“Okay, well, sorry I can’t keep up with your famous celebrity busy schedule and that I’m cancelling because of a date instead. If you’re gonna be moping around like that I’ll just ask Harry if we can reschedule because I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t throw a fit like that.” Okay, what the fuck?!

“Don’t bother, I don’t think I still wanna hang out anyways.” Yeah, and then Liam decided he was going to be a REAL drama queen. “In fact, I don’t even wanna hang out right now either. So I’m just gonna leave and you can call one of your many other friends instead, shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Are you really doing this right now? How old even are you, 10?” Liam had gotten up out of impulse, but now he kinda wanted to sit back down again. Only, he couldn’t, because that would have been even more embarrassing than simply walking out. Even if Louis wouldn’t come after him, which he wouldn’t, 100%. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing? What’s going on with _you_?” Nothing, obviously, because Liam was the problem here. Him and his emotional instability that he couldn’t change even if he had wanted to. 

“Are you really gonna pretend you’re not pissed off because of something?” Yes?

“Why do you care? Why’s it even matter? You very obviously care more about this new boyfriend of yours and about Niall, who is literally your _employee_ but alright, and you only called me up because you’re bored, so why’s it matter if I leave now? Because you’re gonna be bored? Well, tough luck.” And then Liam just started walking towards the door because in all honesty, he didn’t have much of a choice anymore, he was already standing and being all dramatic and shit.

For a moment, Liam genuinely thought Louis would let him walk off and drive home, which would have been the most embarrassing shit ever, but luckily, he was a lot more mature than Liam. And would ever be, probably, considering all this.

“Niall was asking about you today when I talked to him on the phone.” Shit.

If it had been Louis’ plan to make Liam stop dead on in the middle of the room, then he had definitely achieved that because apparently Liam wasn’t only an idiot, he was also an open fucking book for pretty much anyone that knew him for longer than 3 minutes. In Louis’ case, all those years probably made it as easy for him to read Liam as a fucking billboard. “Why?”

“He tried to make it sound random, but I know he was worried.” Wait… but why would he be worried? And why would he ask LOUIS? “Maybe because I talked to him a bit ago about you when I was kinda trying to get information out of him regarding you and him running into each other but-“

“So you’re just gonna admit to that?” Liam asked with pulled up eyebrows after turning back around, his face feeling quite hot though, his cheeks probably red as a tomato already. Amazing.

“It’s not a secret I was interested in what you talked about, is it? And Niall didn’t tell me anything, kept his mouth shut like a pro, so I stopped asking. But I told him you’ve been going through some stuff and then of course it was all over the internet anyways… and since you don’t wanna talk to me, I thought maybe you talked to him. Anyways, he didn’t actually ask about you today, I just wanted to see your reaction.” Fucking hell.

Liam opened his mouth to say something, yell into Louis’ face or so, but he realized there was NO way he would ever win. NO fucking way. Louis was going to find out about it, about absolutely everything, no matter how hard Liam tried to hide it, no matter how much time was going to pass and maybe, just maybe, it’d make him feel better to just come clear. Because there was nothing left to lose anyways, Niall was done with them, their friendship or whatever, so really… why even still bother? It only made Liam’s life a lot harder.

“I drunk texted him last night.” Liam just blurted out with it, still not having sat back down, ignoring the fact that he was going to regret this in about 2 minutes. “It was really embarrassing and now I don’t think he’s ever gonna talk to me again.”

“Wha- How did you even get his numb- Wait, you’ve been texting him all along? I knew it.” Okay, could Louis NOT be excited about this now?! “What did you text him?”

“I asked if he’d ever go out with me.” Normally, Liam would have been way too embarrassed to say this out loud, and he could feel himself blushing a mad color right after it was out, so that was why he had done it as quickly as possible, without much thinking. And somehow, Louis didn’t seem surprised anyways.

“What’d he say?” The other man asked, kinda calmly as well, which only made things worse for Liam’s mental state. 

“Nothing.” And who knew if he would have ever said anything at all had Liam not fucking triple or quadruple texted him. “I apologized and told him I was drunk and he said not to worry.”

“So? What’s the problem?” Was he really that stupid?

“The text made it obvious he doesn’t wanna talk anymore and he probably wouldn’t have ever texted me again if I didn’t apologize and-“

“He’s at work, so he probably doesn’t have any time. And I don’t think he’s the kinda person to check his phone first thing in the morning and make sure to text everyone back, he’s got a child.” Okay, sounded kinda reasonable, however…

“Umm… but he usually texts back in the morning. Also, he only texted back at like 5 in the evening.” Which he never did, but Liam refrained from saying that because this whole conversation shouldn’t have been happening in the very first place.

“Okay, so? He didn’t know what to say about the date thing, so he ignored it, and then he told you it was fine when you apologized, why are you all worked up about it?” Wasn’t it OBVIOUS? “Just text him again like nothing happened.”

“No? I don’t wanna get on his nerves.” A bit too late for that, but… “Also now it’s weird because… because of my drunk text.”

“Why? Because you meant it?” Oh god. 

“I-I… I didn’t. And even if I did-“

“If someone asked me on a date and I really didn’t wanna go I’d straight up tell that person immediately, I wouldn’t just ignore the text and leave it up to their interpretation, that’s like the worst thing you could do in that situation. Niall doesn’t strike me as someone to simply keep his mouth shut and pretend it never happened.” He WASN’T that type of person, but Liam didn’t wanna get his hopes up right now that maybe Niall wasn’t completely done with their friendship yet. “Just text him again. Right now.”

“No? He’s probably busy.” He had to be, or he would be here, right? “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Why not now? You’re just gonna get yourself all worked up all night, we both know it’s true.” They really did. 

“Maybe.” Liam decided after a second before moving to sit back down on the couch again, his face still feeling so hot that he couldn’t even look at Louis. “I don’t know anything to text him right now though.”

“So you’re not at the casual texting stage?” Louis was just curious and trying to get information out of him, but Liam didn’t have the control right now to keep himself from just spilling it all to his friend, so whatever. He had already told him this much, it really didn’t matter anymore.

“No, we are, just… now it’s weird.” They had literally been talking on the phone yesterday, and Niall hadn’t sounded as if he didn’t want to just randomly talk to Liam, but… but maybe he was just a really good actor. Maybe he would have started to become more distant soon anyways. 

“So you’re friends?” Well… that was also a difficult question to answer. Especially right now.

“I guess.” Liam finally settled on that after hesitating for quite a while, still refusing to look at his friend and rather playing with his phone. Still with zero messages obviously. 

“Why’ve you tried so hard to keep it a secret from me?” Louis asked after a moment, sounding serious for once in his life so maybe that was why Liam just sighed before giving himself a push.

“Because… I came to the studio that night because I wanted to be alone and I didn’t feel great and… but I ran into Niall and kinda told him about my existential crisis and then… I felt better after talking to him. So I slipped him my number in the bag with the merch for his daughter and he texted me and-“

“You could have just asked me for his number? Oh my god, Liam, why are you always making it so complicated?” A great question.

“I don’t know, okay? You were all up in my face about not sleeping with him and you always ask so many questions and I didn’t wanna answer them and I didn’t wanna talk about what’s going on and… so I asked Niall not to say anything to you either. Anyways, I don’t wanna talk about it, actually.” But he was.

“Well, we don’t have to, but I’m your best friend and if something’s bothering you you know can talk to me, right? I know I ask too many questions sometimes, but I just said the thing with you not sleeping with Niall because I didn’t want you to just do it because you’re not feeling well. I’ve genuinely been worried about you for a while.” Everyone had told Liam that already, but it seemed instead of actually doing something about his problems, he just kept on creating even more. 

“I know, sorry. I’m working on figuring it out.” Actually, things hadn’t been going too bad until Liam had decided to get drunk last night. 

“Your problems or the thing with Niall?” Pretty sure there was no difference.

“Everything.” Liam told his friend, kinda aware that it was a lie though but whatever. 

“Okay, I’m here if you need to talk.” Louis offered, not making some stupid joke and for a second, Liam almost thought he was off the hook. Only for a second though. “Maybe next time you ask Niall on a date you should do it in person.”

“Maybe next time I tell you anything ever you can just try and not be annoying.” The other man shot back, kinda feeling bad about it but Louis simply laughed it off anyways.

“We both know that will never happen. I’m just trying to help you out, Payno, it’s not like I’d be too thrilled if you and Niall were a thing.” Just him saying that already made Liam blush again like an idiot. “He’d quit the very next day you broke up.”

“Okay, can you stop talking about us breaking up when we’re not even real friends?” And never would be, possibly, because Liam was an idiot?

“Okay, okay, sorry, this isn’t about me anyways.” Apparently everything was though, at least according to Louis himself. “So, am I not allowed to mention to Niall that I know you guys are talking?”

“Just… just don’t try to get involved, okay? Please. He can know, but I doubt he’s gonna bring it up anyways, I doubt we’re gonna still be talking after that message.” Unless Liam magically grew some guts in the next few days, which was highly unlikely.

“C’mon, don’t be so damn dramatic. Just text him and get over it. And if you wanna ask him out then do it, you’ve done it before, you’re an adult. If he says no, he says no, if not, great. I know I said don’t fall in love with him, but if you do it’s alright, I take that back and I’m sorry, it’s your life, obviously. But please warn me.” Apparently everything was easy to Louis, and Liam truly wished he could have felt the same way about these kinda things, but he just didn’t. At least Louis wasn’t begging him anymore to not sleep with Niall, so that was some kinda process. “Do you wanna change the topic?”

“I think this is the first time you offered me this.” Liam pretended to be all fake impressed, making the older man roll his eyes before he got up to get something from his bag and though Liam didn’t exactly feel a lot better, he still felt better than before.

 

\--------------------------

 

“Daddy, I can’t sleep.” Niall wasn’t too surprised when May opened his bedroom door because he had already heard her wandering about the hallways a few seconds ago and had been about to check. 

“C’mere, darling. What’s wrong?” She looked all sleepy, rubbing her eyes as she came over to his bed and Niall was relieved to see that at least she hadn’t been crying. It was around ten at night, and he had been about to try and get some sleep as well, but he probably wouldn’t have been able to anyways. This thing with Liam had been keeping his mind busy all day. 

“Nothing… I just can’t sleep.” Lifting her onto the bed was a bit harder than Niall would have thought, but he blamed it on the fact that he was sitting down and that it was late. 

“Are you not tired?” She had looked tired before when he had tucked her into bed, and she also didn’t look very awake now either, but she wasn’t one to just come to his bed in the middle of the night unless something was up. 

“A bit.” May told him, making herself more comfortable in his bed once he had put the blanket over her as well, lying down next to her as he attempted to sort out her hair a bit, kissing her forehead. “What day is it tomorrow?”

“Friday. What do you wanna do on the weekend?” Niall had some spare time, not too much, but still enough so that they could do something fun. Hopefully. 

“Hmm… I wanna go to the zoo.” Okay, not that good of an idea because it’d probably take the whole day and Niall didn’t know if he had a whole day off, but he’d try his best.

“We’ll see if we can do that, okay?” He tried, making sure not to sound too encouraging, but his daughter just nodded anyways, cuddling deeper into his pillow, her eyes looking as if they were about to drop closed any second. “Do you wanna try and see if maybe you can sleep now? I’m right here if you can’t, yeah?”

“Okay… “ She half whispered, apparently having gotten tired enough to actually sleep in the last few seconds and Niall tried not to think that maybe she had simply wanted to sleep in his bed, because usually she just asked. Then again, she had slept in his bed last night also and she knew he wasn’t too keen on it during the week, but he would have never told her no.

“Okay, I love you, bug. Sleep tight.” Niall kissed her cheek, still stroking her hair and moving her gently so that he’d have some more space as well.

“I love you too… “ May mumbled somewhere into the pillow, the man’s heart warming a bit as he stared down at her for a few more seconds, literally watching her fall asleep because it didn’t take much longer for her breathing to get even. She had definitely just wanted to sleep in his bed, hadn’t she?

So now Niall was left having to both be quiet and somehow try to take his mind off enough to fall asleep himself, which certainly weren’t easy tasks to accomplish. 

Despite the fact that he had been busy at work all day, he hadn’t managed to really forget about Liam’s text message. He had barely slept last night because of it, and then he had simply decided to ignore it in the morning, but when Liam had sent him all these messages apologizing, Niall had had to answer, but there had been nothing ever since. And yeah, he did feel kinda bad for his short answer, but like… suddenly things had gotten weird. Even weirder than they had already been to begin with.

Liam claimed he had been drunk, and Niall believed that because he had obviously regretted that message, but still… why had he sent that, even while drunk? There had to be a little bit of truth to it, he had had to mean it, at least a tiny bit, and Niall had no idea how to feel about that. Then again, he was aware it was somehow his turn to try and save the situation, he just hated how complicated everything had to be, that they couldn’t just be normal friends. 

An hour had passed, maybe even more, when Niall finally decided to send the text after rewriting it at least 12 times, and he wasn’t even satisfied with it then either, but simply decided it wasn’t going to get any better.

 

_To Liam 23:04  
Sorry, I was really busy all day that’s why my answer was so short. Lets just forget about it?_

 

They’d never forget about it, that was for sure, but what else was Niall supposed to say? Thank god Liam hadn’t actually asked him on a date because god only knew what Niall would have done then. Probably ignored Liam for the rest of their lives or something, but not because he wanted to, simply because he wouldn’t have known what to say. Like… it had come a bit out of nowhere. Then again… Louis had said something as well regarding that and… well, Niall was a little terrified, to put it the nicest way possible.

He wasn’t really surprised that Liam texted back immediately, which was somehow a relief but at the same time made Niall feel slightly guilty because it was obvious the other man had waited for him to say something first. And Niall had surely taken his time to do so.

 

_Liam 23:06  
Don’t worry about it, im really sorry. Why are you still awake?_

 

So they started texting back and forth for a bit, things eventually went back to normal after a few messages, and Niall kinda hated himself for immediately starting to feel better and actually getting sleepy, as if this whole thing with Liam was influencing his entire life or something. Maybe it was, a tiny bit, but who could have blamed him, really? This was an extraordinary situation, and he did like Liam, as a friend, and there was nothing wrong with that, right?

 

\-----------------------

 

“So, how was your date yesterday?” Niall decided to finally ask even though he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know the answer. 

“It was good, we really get along.” Harry sounded a bit too motivated considering how early it was, at least for a Sunday. Niall had somehow let himself be convinced to actually take May to the zoo, and Harry was tagging along because he had happened to have texted Niall this morning, so Niall had figured why not just ask him. Having an extra pair of eyes on his daughter in a packed zoo didn’t sound like a bad idea at all. “I know you’re gonna think it’s weird, but I kinda feel like I’ve known Louis for ages.”

“I don’t think anything is weird anymore.” The other man blurted out before realizing that Harry had no idea what he was talking about. Whatever. “May, can you slow down?”

The little girl seemed annoyed, but she did as she had been told, walking more slowly but still ahead of them, which was making Niall quite anxious, but he literally never took his eyes off of her anyways. 

“What do you mean?” Harry seemed confused, which made sense, so Niall simply shrugged it off because he was kinda afraid he’d give himself away otherwise. Things with Liam had gone back to normal, they had even talked on the phone yesterday, but Niall still couldn’t stop thinking about that drunk incident. And he didn’t even bloody know why. 

“Nothing. Louis is weird, so I’m not surprised.” Truly though, even if Harry wasn’t usually like that… it somehow fit? 

“Okay? But you like him, right? I mean, you guys are friends even though he’s your boss?” Well…

“I guess we are… I mean, no one else randomly shows up on my doorstep every few days and expects to just be let in.” In fact, Louis had kinda already implied yet again that he wouldn’t mind stopping by today, so Niall had quickly told him about the zoo and he had somewhat been surprised that the older man hadn’t simply invited himself. If he had known Harry would come along, he probably wouldn’t have even hesitated. Then again… when had he ever? “I’m kinda glad if he’s soon gonna do the same to you instead.”

“We’ve not known each other long enough for that, I think.” And Harry could seriously say that with a straight face?

“Are we talking about different people?” Niall joked, though he suddenly did wonder if Louis behaved differently around Harry, if maybe he was just this way with Niall because of their work situation and all that. Then again, he also didn’t really care all too much. “He’s- May! Slow down!”

Their conversation got a bit interrupted when Niall had to make sure that he wouldn’t lose his daughter out of sight, making her hold his hand from that moment on because his paranoia was just getting too much with so many people around. And maybe it was a good thing that they didn’t continue talking about Louis anyways. 

Because it was such a nice day out and a Sunday, it took them ages to go anywhere because of the crowds of people standing everywhere, but May was still having the best time ever so that was really all Niall cared about. They had been to the same zoo many times obviously, but not recently, and each time they went it was like they had never been here before, at least for May because she was so young. Plus, Harry seemed to really enjoy himself as well for some reason and Niall was really glad he was there because that meant he actually got to go to the bathroom by himself and leave his daughter with his friend for a few minutes.

Upon returning though, he wasn’t all too sure whether it had been a good idea.

There were two women standing there talking to Harry while May was very obviously getting bored while holding his hand, but at least he hadn’t gotten so distracted that he had let go yet, so that was a relief.

“… this is my friend, Niall.” Harry introduced him once he came closer and Niall felt slightly confused, especially because somehow… somehow one of the women looked familiar to him. Not the one Harry was referring to though. “Niall, that’s Louis’ mother.”

“Oh. Um, hi, nice to meet you.” Niall briefly shook her hand, a million questions suddenly forming in his head as he looked at Harry and then back at Louis’ mother, and then at the other woman. One second… 

“Nice to meet you too. Louis told me so much about you already, you work for him, right? I gotta admit, I wasn’t sure about this recording studio, but it seems he’s really enjoying himself.” Great, amazing, why was no one telling Niall who that other woman was though? And why did Harry know Louis’ mother already?! 

“Yeah, it’s… I’m really enjoying it as well.” Half a lie, but that was fine, right? It was his mother for Christ’s sake. “This is my daughter May, I don’t know if Harry-“

“Oh, he already introduced us, right, love?” Louis’ mother’s smile grew as she looked down at May and the little girl nodded before letting go of Harry’s hand, instead coming over to Niall and stretching out her arms towards him.

At first, Niall thought she was getting shy and wanted to be held, so he picked her up in an attempt to comfort her while Harry started talking to Louis’ mother as if they had known each other for ages already. So no one noticed when May whispered into Niall’s ear, her voice really high because of how excited she seemed to be. “Daddy, that’s Liam’s mommy.”

“What?” Niall thought he had misheard her because it was so loud around them, but he could literally feel his blood freezing as he threw another look at the second woman just standing there, smiling. Shit. 

“That’s Lia-“

“Shh.” The man quickly shushed her, feeling a little panicked now because what the fuck… this wasn’t good. Not at all. Thank god May wasn’t wearing the merch today, thank fucking god. 

“Can I say hi?” May was still whispering, but a little too loudly, and OF COURSE Harry had to get involved now.

“Everything okay?” He turned around, looking at Niall with a questioning stare, which of course caused everyone else to stare at him also and before he could have even opened his mouth and said something, his daughter had been a lot quicker. Great. Amazing.

“Are you Liam’s mommy? I really like his songs.” Oh. God. 

“May-“

“I am, darling.” She was still smiling, so that was good, at least she wasn’t weirded out. Then again, May was a little girl, hardly anyone could have blamed her for asking questions like that, right?

“I’m really sorry.” Niall cut in immediately, throwing a look at his daughter, but she didn’t even seem to notice. “We should probably leave.”

“Why?” May sounded disappointed, and this whole situation was only getting weirder and weirder. Especially considering no one here knew that Niall had actually just been texting Liam back on the way to the bathroom. 

“It’s fine, no worries at all.” Liam’s mother seemed to mean it for some reason, almost as if she was happy that May had recognized her something. What the hell? “So you like his music, hm?”

“Yes, and I also met him at his concert and he wore my bracelet and he wrote me a letter back and Louis took us to meet him too.” Well, May certainly wasn’t shy, was she?

For a moment, Liam’s mother seemed really stunned, probably because she had expected May to simply say yes and be done with it and not have 10 billion stories to tell about her son. And if she had only known how many more Niall had… did she know about Liam’s struggles? Did he at least talk to his own mother about his problems? Because it surely didn’t seem like it most of the time. 

“Wow, really? I think he might have even told me about that, actually.” He hadn’t, had he?

“Really?!” Of course May was super excited now and Niall kinda wished Liam’s mother would have just not said that because May’s love for Liam had almost turned into a normal small obsession after all this craziness, which he had intended to try and keep that way, just in case he’d ever introduce her to Liam as his friend anytime soon. But now… “He’s so nice I love him so much. He also got me all of his shirts and hoodies with his face on and-“

“Okay, I think that’s enough, love. Do you still wanna go to the petting zoo?” Niall made sure to interrupt before this would get out of hand, before Liam’s mother or Louis’ would say something that would bring him into an even more difficult situation. Like, who knew what kinda ideas they had, what if they offered she could like, meet Liam somewhere again? With Niall? And then they’d all have to pretend and… Jesus Christ.

“But daddy-“

“We’ll catch up with you in a bit, okay, Haz? Just text me. It was really nice to meet you. Sorry again.” Niall made sure to say goodbye to everyone before they could stop him from leaving, making sure to walk away quickly, still carrying May, which was convenient because she surely wouldn’t have followed him so easily had she been walking herself. 

“Daddy I wanted to talk to her.” May actually sounded really upset now, which Niall had kinda been expecting, but also maybe not to such an extend.

“I know, darling, but we don’t know her, okay? And you still know what we talked about, right? About talking to strangers?” Well, that rule didn’t really apply here, but like… she WAS a stranger. 

“Yeah, but she was really nice and you were there and uncle Harry and I just wanted to talk to her.” The little girl’s face had gotten so sad that Niall almost felt guilty, but he forced himself to keep on walking, to not look back, or even worse, WALK back. 

“May-“

“I miss Liam.” And then, from one second to the next, May had broken out into tears, like really suddenly and out of nowhere and Niall was so surprised by it, he almost forgot to say something.

“I know, love, there’s no need to cry, okay? It’s all good.” Niall tried his best, quickly locating an empty bench to sit down with her, uselessly attempting to wipe the tears from her face with his free hand, but new ones just kept coming. She wasn’t the kinda child to throw a proper temper tantrum, but she did cry sometimes and it never failed to break Niall’s heart. Especially if it was about something he couldn’t fix. “Do you wanna go to the petting zoo?”

“N-No.” May sobbed, her fingers curled so tightly into Niall’s sweater that it almost hurt. “I w-wanna… I w-wanna go b-back.”

“Sweetheart… “ Niall started, suppressing a sigh as he held her more tightly, kissing her forehead as he tried to come up with a solution to this whole mess. “We don’t know Liam, or his mom, and I know you really love him, but he’s a celebrity and-“

“Louis knows h-him.” Shit.

“Yes, but that is different. And he doesn’t… he doesn’t know him that well.” Okay, Niall hated lying like this, right to her face, but what else was he supposed to do? She was a 6 year old child, how else would he have handled this situation? Fuck, how’d he ever tell her he and Liam were… friends? What had he been thinking? 

“B-But… but h-he took u-us to m-meet him. And… and t-they are f-friends.” Niall had known that the day would come May would bring this up again, or maybe he had been hoping it wouldn’t, maybe he had been hoping she was slowly starting to kinda get over her crush on Liam. But apparently, she had only been hiding it a lot better because nothing had happened lately. “I m-miss him.”

“I know, love… “ The man was at a loss of words, he felt really useless right now, as if he was somehow failing as a parent because he was letting this happen, he was the one who had been feeding into this obsession and he had gone and made it even more complicated without anyone even knowing about it. He’d have to tell Liam about this, because his mother surely would and… Christ. Why? 

Niall hugged his daughter close, letting her cry into his shoulder because he was pretty sure nothing he could have said would have made her feel better right now. Also, he was afraid he’d suggest something really stupid just to make her stop crying and to make her feel better, so it was probably the best to just wait until she calmed down again. Which, honestly, didn’t seem to be anywhere in the near future.

In fact, Harry came to find them before May had calmed down, though Niall was pretty sure she had stopped crying, but she also refused to lift her head off of his shoulder.

“How are we doing?” Harry asked, carefully though, and Niall refrained from glaring at him when he sat down next to him, reaching out to rub May’s back a bit, luckily not saying anything regarding what had happened just now. “Do you wanna come and pet the animals, May? I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”

“No… “ The girl mumbled into Niall’s shoulder, only tightening her arms around Niall’s neck and the man shared a look with his friend before kissing the side of his daughter’s head. 

“C’mon, bug, petting the goats is always your favorite part of the zoo.” It really was, but then again, everything about the zoo was her favorite part, so Niall hated that the day had had to turn into this. He’d definitely have to ask Harry about this when they were alone, although… he couldn’t have blamed him in any way. He probably had had no idea who Liam’s mother was or that May would have recognized her so easily. Then again… even Niall had recognized her, though he hadn’t really known where to place her face at first. “We can also get ice cream before that. Or something else, anything you want, love.”

There was silence, and Niall was almost running out of bribing ideas, but eventually the girl did lean back a bit, enough so that Niall could see her red and tear stained face as she refused to look at him, her voice soft and shaky. “I want ice cream… “

“Okay, then let’s go and get some, yeah?” Niall tried to sound all enthusiastic as he gently wiped her face again, taking the tissue Harry was offering him to help May blow her nose a bit. “What flavor do you want?”

Both Niall and Harry were trying their very hardest to distract her, not mentioning Liam’s mother or Louis’ with another word from there on, for at least two more hours. May came around pretty quickly like she usually did, she had fun in the petting area and Harry was really going beyond to make her laugh, so if Niall had been upset with him… he truly couldn’t be anymore after that. As easily as May seemed to have forgotten about that encounter though, Niall for sure didn’t manage that well.

“How has Louis already introduced you to his mother?” Niall blurted out with his question the moment he had started the car, May sleeping soundly in her seat in the back. “And why was she at the zoo?”

“She was probably there with Louis’ younger siblings or something, they’re old enough to walk around by themselves. Or maybe his nephew or niece, I didn’t ask. And I know her because she was there the other day when I was at his place.” Okay, when was all this happening?! “Sorry, I had no idea that that was Liam’s mother, I would’ve never gone over with May if I had known.”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault at all… I think she’s already over it again.” Probably not, but what else was Niall supposed to say right now? “So you and Louis… it’s kinda really serious?”

“I mean, we don’t know each other for very long, but it feels like it, yeah.” Not very long was a nice description for the past two weeks, but… who was Niall to judge, really? “I’ve not kissed him or anything, if that’s what you were wondering.”

“Actually, I’m not wondering about anything.” Niall had his own problems to worry about after all.

There was some silence following that, and Niall thought about turning on the radio because they’d be stuck in traffic now anyways, but it seemed Harry had other plans. “I’ve been wondering about something though.”

“What?” The other man was confused, not really knowing what to expect, but maybe he should have.

“What’s going on between you and Liam?” What?!

“Umm… what do you mean? I don’t even know h-“

“Louis said you and Liam are texting.” Okay, one fucking second… Liam had told _Louis?!_ “Wait, maybe I wasn’t supposed to tell you that he knows. Or that I know. Anyways, is it true?”

“I-I… I mean… “ Niall almost forgot that he was driving because it was coming so out of nowhere, like… what the hell? Couldn’t Liam have warned him?! He had been so damn keen on keeping it a secret and then he just went and told Louis about it anyways? Oh god… had he also told him about the text message incident?! “Kinda, but-“

“Wow, that’s crazy. And May has no idea?” Could Harry maybe not make Niall feel like shit?!

“No, she’s 6, Harry. And anyways, um… I don’t think I wanna talk about that right now. We just… talk. Occasionally.” Via text and on the phone and in real life, but that was besides the point right now. 

“Okay, well, it sounded kinda different when Louis told me yesterday, but we don’t have to talk about it. Just be careful, okay? He’s a celebrity.” Harry said it as if Niall wasn’t WELL aware of that tiny fact. At least he sounded genuinely worried and not just curious. “Do you like him?”

“We’re friends.” Niall settled for that because they were, right? Despite… everything. “And not very good friends, just… casual. It’s… complicated.”

“Okay. Why?” Good question.

“Because he’s… a celebrity? And May’s crush. And Louis’ best friend. And… I don’t know.” And he had drunk texted Niall to go on a date with him and was now suddenly strangely good at pretending that that had never even happened. “Let’s not talk about it.”

“We don’t have to.” Harry shrugged, which Niall only saw from the corner of his eyes though, but he was a little relieved his friend was allowing him to drop it so easily. Then again… the next time Niall saw Louis at work, he’d have to prepare himself to be questioned nonstop anyways. Especially because now Louis knew that Niall had been lying to him, so really, Niall felt like he actually should have been a bit upset with Liam for not warning him. Or talking it out with him, like… why had he done that?

After dropping Harry off at home and again being told to be careful, Niall was forced to wake May so he could take her to the store with him because he realized they barely had anything left to eat at home. She wasn’t too happy about it, but started waking up a bit more once they were walking past the candy aisle. As usual. But not as usual did he actually let her pick out something because he still felt bad.

Niall truly hated how eager he was to call Liam, but he was only really able to a couple hours later, after he had cooked dinner and brought May to bed, ignored a couple text messages from his friends and his mother. And when he was finally all alone in his bedroom, he suddenly didn’t even know anymore if he really wanted to call Liam or not. Then again… texting all this didn’t sound like the best idea either, so… 

“Hi.” Liam literally picked up the phone after two seconds, but Niall had long stopped wondering how he always seemed to have so much time to talk and text. Pretty sure he didn’t actually have all that time but simply did it anyways. “What’s up?”

“Hi, not much.” A lie. “Actually… I’m calling you because… I wanted to talk about something.”

“Okay, about what?” The fact that the other man sounded excited made Niall feel bad, like, Liam probably thought he wanted to talk about something… more pleasant. So he decided to get it over with as quickly as possible. Like ripping off a band aid.

“So… I met your mother today. And Louis’. And why did you tell Louis we’re texting without warning me? He already told Harry.” Okay, maybe Niall sounded slightly accusing, but that was because he was. It WAS Liam’s fault after all, he must have been aware that Niall would find out about it eventually, right?

There was only silence following that, but Niall was determined to not be the one to speak up first again this time. “Umm… where did you meet her?”

“The zoo. I don’t know what she did there, but Harry apparently already knows Louis’ mother and they got talking and May recognized your mom and then had a crying fit because I wouldn’t let her talk to her about you.” Okay, well that part wasn’t Liam’s fault, but… “Actually, this is more about you telling Louis.”

“I’m sorry, I… I was going to tell you-“

“When?” Niall interrupted, because… why had Liam even told Louis without consulting him first anyways? “I thought we agreed we’d talk about it before we tell anyone.”

“I know, I just… shit, I’m sorry.” Liam sounded frustrated, and really worked up all of a sudden, and normally that would have been enough to cause Niall to cave in immediately, but he was determined to wait it out this time. “I only told him on Thursday.”

“Why?” Wait… the day after he had drunk texted? 

“Because… “ The older man started, clearly struggling with his words right now, but just for once Niall really wanted him to just spit it out and not talk around the topic. “I didn’t think you’d ever talk to me again anyways, so I… I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, okay? I told him to not get involved.”

“Why’d you think I’d never talk to you again? Because of that text message?” Niall felt his face getting hot bringing this up again, but there was no way around it. 

“Um… yeah.” Liam admitted after a second, clearing his throat and Niall didn’t have to see him to know how blushed he probably was. 

“I’m sorry I took so long to text back that day.” He truly was, and Niall also had to admit that he had played with the thought of not saying anything at all, but he wasn’t like that. And Liam knew that, right? “Do you really think I’m the kinda person to just ghost you after that?”

“I don’t know, it felt like it and… and then Louis was getting on my nerves and… I just told him. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. And I’m sorry my mom made May cry.” Well…

“Your mom was really nice to her, actually, it was me who made her cry by not letting her finish, but anyways… it’s fine. Whatever. At least now it’s out.” Spared them a lot of nerves, right? Or maybe not really because it would make the working situation with Louis unbearable, but… yeah. So there was that. “Just… let me know next time, okay?”

“I will. Sorry again.” Liam apologized for the hundredth time and how could Niall have ever been angry with this man? It was truly impossible. “Also for the text mess-“

“I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore.” Truly, if Liam started apologizing for that again as well then… they’d both be blushing messes by the end of it. 

“I know. S-“

“Stop apologizing, Liam, it’s fine. Really.” Niall promised, though he wasn’t actually sure if it was fine because… it was obvious they were both still thinking about it. And maybe they should have talked about it, but… what would they have even said? “Let’s just… forget about it all. You were drunk.”

“I’m … trying.” He was making it quite obvious that that wasn’t working out very well and Niall felt the same if he was being honest. 

“… But?” Niall decided to ask after a moment, his heart suddenly beating a little faster even though he didn’t even bloody know why. 

The other man was clearly hesitating, moving around kinda noisily in the background and oh god, what was he going to say now? He couldn’t genuinely be about to say what Niall thought he was going to say, right? “I just… um… I mean… I _was_ really drunk, that night… “

“Okay?” Niall asked, a bit breathless because… oh god.

“I wasn’t… THAT extremely drunk though.” He was totally gonna say it now, wasn’t he? Fuck, and Niall still had no idea what to answer. 

“So… “ So he wanted to give Niall a heart attack now? At 8 on a Sunday?

“So, um… “ Liam cleared his throat again, and then he was coughing and it was really obvious that he was only pretending and suddenly, Niall was overcome with such a rush of fondness that he felt his throat tighten a bit as Liam continued to stumble over his words. “I just… I’m not asking you or anything, but, um… I think maybe… maybe I made it look a bit wrong in those messages I sent the morning after, umm… it’s not that… that I wouldn’t, like… that I’d say no, if… that I wouldn’t have ever asked you to, like… go on a, um, a date, I, uh… yeah, so… I was drunk, but… I didn’t just… just write it for like, no reason, so… and I’m sorry if I made it even weirder now, I know you don’t wanna go, on a… on a date, I just wanted to make sure that… that you know how I meant it and-“

“Liam? Please stop.” Niall honestly had to bite the inside of his cheek so he wouldn’t laugh because Liam was SO bloody nervous, as if they were 15 years old and had never been on a date with anybody. Fuck, Niall was SO going to regret making such an impulsive decision now, but… 

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m just gonna shut up and we’re gonna forget about it for real and-“

“We can go on a date. If you want to.” There, Niall had said it, and it was almost causing his heart to jump out of his chest but at the same time… it felt really nice somehow. 

“Wh- Really?! You, um… you really want to?” He had clearly not been expecting that at all and somehow it made Niall laugh. Maybe he felt a little light headed now. Or a lot.

“If you want to as well.” He very obviously did, maybe that was why Niall had just said that because the fact that someone would be SO nervous to ask HIM on a date… that had never happened before? Also… it’s not that Niall couldn’t see himself ever liking Liam more as a friend and yeah, things were complicated and had gotten even more complicated today, but… maybe Niall was just losing his mind? 

“I do, yeah, I… ‘course I do.” Liam stumbled over his words yet again, seemingly more excited than Niall would have ever expected anyone to be after deciding to go out with them. God, they were SO gonna regret this… so why didn’t Niall care one bit right now? “I’ll, uh, think of something. Just tell me when you have time.”

“Okay, I will. Liam?” Niall was still smiling like an idiot, which he kinda hated himself for, but… he couldn’t hold back. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

“What? Oh… yeah. Right.” He had to clear his throat again though, coughing a little, and though Niall wondered how this whole day had kinda turned into THIS, he certainly wasn’t complaining. They’d somehow figure this out… right? “Um… what about May?”

“I’ll ask my parents to watch h-“

“No, I mean… you know.” Oh. 

“I’ll talk to her. And I think… I think I should introduce you to her. As a friend. I feel like the longer we wait the worse it’s gonna get.” Also, Niall had thought May was already kinda getting over Liam, but apparently not. And if they were really going on a date and if this was somehow getting… more serious then… fuck, maybe Niall shouldn’t have done that. It was too late for that now though.

“Okay, whatever you wanna do, just let me know.” Liam sounded overly cooperative and enthusiastic, for which Niall was really glad, but at the same time, he could also feel the worries starting to come back that he had momentarily pushed into the back of his head before. 

Niall had a daughter, and she was the most important thing, his number one priority, if he started seeing someone, Liam out of all people… what effect would that have on her? He surely should have thought that through more thoroughly before mindlessly asking people on dates after not doing that for YEARS, it’s just… things were different with Liam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! it feels like AGES since i uploaded oh my god!!!
> 
> im so happy you guys liked the last two chapters, i know you were a bit upset with me about the ending but SEE they ARE going on a date now :) im really trying my hardest here to not drag it out, like it takes everything in me to make this move as "fast" as they are going :p 
> 
> thank you all so much for the continued support, for leaving kudos and comments and being the best!! i was so excited to come back home just to continue writing lmao, i cant wait to share the rest of the story with you guys <3 let me know your thoughts!!


	8. Chapter 8

“Who is this person? How did you meet them? Where?“ Niall’s mother seemed to think Niall was still a teenager or something, but he had to give it to her that the last time he had really been seeing someone and told her about it, he had kinda ended up with a child.

“It’s a guy, mom. I already told you.” Niall rolled his eyes, already regretting ever having told her that he was going on a date, but if he hadn’t, he would have had to tell either Zayn or Harry so they could babysit instead and… Niall wasn’t really ready for that. Harry would have immediately known it was Liam, and Zayn would have kept pushing until Niall had told him. Sure, he could have lied to his mother as well, but he was kinda done with lying for a little bit.

“Are you sure?” What?

“Am I sure he’s a guy? Yeah, I’m pretty s-“

“No, I mean are you sure you wanna go on a date with a guy?” Jesus.

“I’ve been with guys before, you know that.” She knew everything, they had always had a kinda open relationship about these sorts of things. “Are you suddenly becoming judgmental?”

“It’s not about that, but you have a daughter. A young daughter.” His mother had lowered her voice, as if there was any way May could have heard them from the other room. The TV was so loud Niall could have sang along to every song because he could hear the lyrics so clearly.

“Are you suggesting I’m going on a date with someone I’m not sure could potentially be a criminal?” To be fair, Niall didn’t know Liam for that long, but had his mother known it was him… hell, she would have been worried about 500 other things. And so was Niall, but he had been thinking about this for the past five days now, and he had come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t change his mind. He wanted to go on a date with Liam and… they’d just see how it’d go. Like… it didn’t have to immediately mean anything, right? 

“Well, that is certainly something to keep in mind. How well do you know him? And from where?” She had been asking these questions too many times for Niall to still ignore them, so he gave himself a push. He had obviously planned what he was going to tell her, and it weren’t exactly lies either, but… also not really the truth.

“I’ve known him for a while. We met through another friend.” They HAD, right? Louis was a friend. And Niall had known Liam for years, technically. “Why are you interrogating me like that? I’ll be fine, I’m not a child.”

“I know, but you haven’t gone on a date in years. None that I know of at least. So this guy must somehow be special.” The way she said it made Niall blush, so he quickly got up to get himself a glass of water. “I’m just surprised, that’s all, it’s coming a bit out of nowhere. And I kinda thought you weren’t into guys anymore.”

“Why?” God, Niall shouldn’t have brought May over so soon, but his mother ALWAYS wanted him to come earlier so they could catch up. At least his dad wasn’t asking any questions but had gone to watch TV with May instead.

“I thought if you ever date anyone again it’d be a woman, you know… because of May. She’s never had a mother.” Seriously?

“So? She’s got me. What difference would it make if I was with a guy? Do you think kids can’t have two dads?” Not that Niall thought he was going to marry Liam, obviously this was just hypothetically but it was making him feel quite hot. He was really nervous somehow though he tried to overplay it by getting upset with his mother. Which he had every right to though, because what was she even saying?

“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry if it sounded like that, I just… look, I’m a bit worried. You haven’t been on a date in so long and-“

“Mom, I’m gonna be careful, okay? It’s our first date, we won’t do anything, just talk.” At least Niall couldn’t accidentally have another child if he was going out with a guy, right? But obviously he wasn’t going to say that to his own mother right now. Also, he really didn’t wanna think about… like, doing stuff with Liam, not right before he was about to see him. “I know him, he’s a good guy, we get along well.”

“Well, I hope you are if you’re going on a date with him. What’s his name?” Well… 

“Liam.” Niall wasn’t going to lie so obviously, but like… Liam was a pretty damn popular name, so… whatever.

“Seriously? May would love that.” Niall’s mother sounded surprised, but then she just laughed it off and Niall felt himself relax just a little. If anything really came out of this and he’d eventually tell her the truth, she could never say that he had lied to her, because he hadn’t. Not really. “Just make sure to let me know once you’re back home, alright?”

“I will. It might be late though.” Niall warned her, not caring that she pretended to be all shocked because GOD, he was an adult?! “If May tells you she’s allowed to stay up longer on Friday’s, that’s a lie. And she’s also not allowed these chocolate things for breakfast.”

“But I already bought her some.” Great.

“Mom, I told you-“

“Oh come on, she’s not having them all the time. You used to love them when you were a child.” There was no way Niall would talk her out of it, she knew his mother would give them to May anyways and he didn’t want May to be forced to keep a secret from him. “I won’t give her all of them, I’ll save some for when you bring her over next time.”

“Fine, but if she gets all hyper again then we’re gonna stay at your house tomorrow until she calms down.” Just thinking about tomorrow gave Niall chills, like… tomorrow this would be over. And he had no idea how to feel about it, or what to expect or… but then again, it was just like hanging out with Liam, right? Only now they both kinda knew that they were open for more than just friendship, so… it did change things a bit. Especially because they hadn’t seen each other since, only talked on the phone. 

“You can stay over anyways, you have to tell me how your date went.” She sounded all excited now, so Niall made sure to throw a look at the clock on the wall, pretending to be in a sudden hurry.

“I should probably leave, I don’t wanna be late.” He’d be early, but then again, he’d probably need a few moments to himself anyways. 

“Where are you going?” His mother asked, following him out of the room.

“Just to eat.” No idea where, Liam had done all of the planning, he had kept it all secretive and whatnot and Niall had truly hated himself for thinking it was the sweetest thing ever. Literally, he needed to stop being this impressed by everything, just because no one had asked him out in so long didn’t exactly mean that Liam was exceptionally good at it. “May, I’m leaving.”

May was all fixated on the TV when Niall entered the living room, but she did look at him, without getting up though. “Okay. When are you going to be back?”

“Tomorrow morning, yeah? Be good for granny and grandpa. Promise?” Niall leaned down to give her a cuddle, making her squirm a bit in his arms as she giggled when he tickled her softly, kissing her head a few times. 

“Promise.” She gave him a pinky promise before hugging him again and Niall felt his heart warming a bit. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’m gonna miss you too, love.” Shit, Niall was already too emotional for this. “Have fun, okay? And sleep tight. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, daddy.” May told him, smiling when Niall brushed some hair out of her face, kissing her forehead before forcing himself to get back up or he’d literally never leave. He hadn’t told her where he was going, as far as she was concerned, he was only meeting up with a friend. Not that she had asked any questions, but Niall still felt guilty.

Niall made sure to hug his parents goodbye as well, his dad telling him to have fun and his mom bringing him to the door, telling him to be careful at least 20 more times. Niall appreciated her concern of course, and he was aware how lucky he was that his parents were so supportive, that they always watched May and were always there to help, but adding his mother’s clear nervousness to his own wasn’t really making him feel so much better.

Basically, no one knew that Niall and Liam were meeting up, or going on a date. Obviously Louis had had a fucking field trip at work the other day asking Niall 50 billion questions about him and Liam, but Niall felt like he had done pretty well saying only the absolute minimum. Liam had promised him he’d never go behind Niall’s back again and just tell Louis anything without warning him first and they had agreed to just see how tonight would go before even thinking about telling anyone.

Why would they have anyways though, not everyone was as open about this stuff as Louis and Harry, besides… things were a hundred times more difficult with Niall and Liam because of Liam’s job obviously. 

Something which Niall took even more notice of the moment he reached the location Liam had texted him. 

It was a restaurant, Niall had already known that obviously, but it seemed to also be a hotel, a really posh one on top of that, so driving into the underground garage already made him a little nervous. Liam had told him he didn’t have to worry about the cost for parking and though Niall felt like it would be a bit bold to just let Liam pay for it… he didn’t have much of a choice. He’d never be able to afford any of this and if it had gone after him, he would have simply invited Liam over to his own place. But apparently, that wasn’t what Liam had wanted. 

Niall was early, so he sat in the car for a bit, texting Zayn about some problems he was apparently experiencing because he couldn’t go out tonight because he had tests to grade. Sometimes Niall felt like he knew all of Zayn’s students as well though he had literally never seen them, but he knew all their names and even their weak subjects. Normally he wouldn’t have been so interested, but he was grateful for ANY kind of distraction right now.

When Liam texted him, Niall almost had a damn heart attack.

 

_Liam 17:57  
Do you want me to meet you in the garage?_

 

The thing was, they had actually planned it differently, that Niall would go inside on his own because Liam would be there sooner because he had had to do something work related before, but he must have sensed that maybe the other man’s nerves were going to play up a bit. Or maybe he was just being a gentleman, either ways, Niall was more than grateful for the offer. He’d still have 3 more minutes, but it’s not like he didn’t want to see Liam, so.

 

_To Liam 17:58  
Thatd be great, im a bit lost_

 

Not really, but… Niall genuinely didn’t wanna have to walk in there right now and show his ID like Liam had told him and… if Niall hadn’t really noticed Liam’s celebrity status while they had been talking, he certainly was now. He really SHOULD have thought all of it through before asking Liam to go on a date, but maybe Niall was actually really glad that he hadn’t because… he probably wouldn’t have gone through with it in the end, out of fear. 

Niall stayed in the car for a lot longer than necessary, waiting until Liam was literally texting him to ask where he was before forcing himself to get out into the garage. It’s not that Niall was nervous about seeing Liam in general, because he knew they always had something to talk about, but just the whole situation, it was… new to him? Kind of at least. The last time he had been on a date had been so long in the past, Niall couldn’t even properly remember it.

“Hi, sorry you had to come down, I, um… I’m an idiot.” Niall joked nervously when he finally found Liam, almost instantly hating himself for his choice of outfit. Which wasn’t actually an outfit, it were just normal clothes, but then again, Liam always looked like this as well, maybe he hadn’t even tried either. However… this was Liam, so he probably had.

“No worries. Hi.” The older man seemed to be in a really good mood, as if he wasn’t even nervous or anything, as if their places had been switched.

Liam did go for the hug, a really brief one though and Niall didn’t mind at all of course though his heart definitely sped up a little. Damn, he smelled good, but he always did, as far as Niall could remember, this was just the first time he was this close to him. “Do I have to be worried about this location?”

“You really don’t, I just thought about it and… well, I decided I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Made sense, if anybody saw them or took pictures… it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but it also wouldn’t have been fun to deal with. Especially if it could have been so easily avoided. “You can tell me though if I went a bit overboard, it was kinda, like… last minute and… yeah.”

“I’m sure it’s just fine.” Niall told him, mostly so Liam would feel better, because deep down, he was definitely a little worried as they walked towards the elevator together. He had NO idea what to expect right now, what Liam had done, but already he had put more effort into this than anybody had ever put on doing anything for Niall. Like, not even talking about the costs or anything, just the amount of thought spent on this whole date. 

“I hope so… I would have invited you to come over to my place, but I thought… that wouldn’t have been a good first date.” Now he sounded nervous, which kinda made Niall feel calmer though he felt slightly bad for it. Liam was really cute though whenever he was nervous, there was no denying that, mainly because he was this massive popstar and yet he somehow seemed to be nervous taking Niall on a date. For whatever bloody reason. “Anyways, um… are you hungry?”

“Starving, actually. I made lunch for May but I didn’t have anything myself, so… “ Not out of nervousness but rather out of time pressure. Or maybe both. A little tiny bit. 

“Did you bring her to your parents?” They were in the elevator now, going up way too many floors for Niall’s liking. It’s not that he minded, he just… he kinda felt like he knew where this whole date was going. Like, where they were going to, and he wasn’t really sure if it was a good thing or not. 

“Yeah, they’re happy if they can have her anyways. They always keep asking me to bring her over for sleepovers and stuff, and May enjoys it too, but she definitely doesn’t wanna go as often as my mom asks.” Obviously in these cases Niall made other excuses and stuff though he kinda felt like he was oversharing a bit now because the elevator was slowing to a stop. “… do I really not have to be worried?”

“I promise.” Liam told him with a smile that seemed a tiny bit shaky though and he let Niall exit first, or tried to at least, because the younger man didn’t actually want to. He much rather followed behind Liam and tried not to stare too much.

So they definitely were in some hotel that Niall shouldn’t have entered with the clothes he was wearing or the car he was driving, but it was too late for that. WAY too late.

The thing was, Niall kinda thought that even though the surroundings were way too posh for him and stuff, that Liam still had only somehow gotten them to sit somewhere privately in the restaurant or something. But turned out though that even that wasn’t fancy enough and that these people working here greeted him by his last name and gave him a key card, and when they got back on the elevator, Niall got REALLY worried.

“Um, not saying that, like… that I’m scared, but… what do you usually do on first dates?” Niall tried to laugh it off, but his laughter kinda got stuck in his throat. What the fuck?

“Not what you’re thinking right now. I, um, I was going to only get us a table but then I thought… it’d be much nicer up here.” Liam was really blushed, so that was a good sign because if he had thought about having sex with Niall then he surely wouldn’t have still been acting so shy and nervous, right? Everything was fine, Niall just needed to get over himself.

“Up where?” The younger man asked just when they reached the very last floor and this time, Niall did get off first, but only because it was an empty hallway anyways. 

“It’s a surprise.” Liam told him, and it looked quite like one as well as he carefully walked past Niall without touching him, leading the way down to one of the doors. Damn, Niall couldn’t even remember the last time he had been inside a hotel, he and May never went on holiday or anything. 

Niall did trust Liam though he was slightly unsure when the older man unlocked the door with his key card, but before Niall could really get into it and freak out on the inside… Liam had already turned on the lights and caused him to REALLY freak the hell out. If this was what Liam did for first dates… what the hell did he do for people he actually dated?

“Are you… are you being for real?” Niall’s mouth felt dry, his feet somehow moving by themselves as he entered the room. Or actually, it wasn’t a bloody _room_ , it was like a full blown apartment or something, with a full glass front and a view Niall hadn’t seen in his entire life. And it wasn’t even dark yet. “You… how much did you pay for this?”

“Nothing, they like me here.” Liam joked though Niall wasn’t actually sure if it had been a joke or not and also, he regretted asking that question, it had just kinda slipped out. Honestly, he felt a little dizzy now. “Are you okay?”

“I’m… not sure.” The younger man admitted, barely aware of the door closing behind him, but he was more busy looking around the place. The door to what must have been the bedroom was closed, and the only thing that really looked set up was the table, right by that massive glass front, so that calmed Niall’s nerves. Well, if Liam had been worried about getting recognized… they couldn’t have gotten any more private than this. “Can we… go on the balcony?”

“Sure.” Surely Liam was nervous, but Niall didn’t really take much notice of that anymore, he hadn’t even looked at Liam after he had entered and he’d definitely need a few minutes to let this sink in. None of his friends would ever believe him this, not that he planned on telling them, but… Jesus. Would Louis have warned him if he had known about them going on a date? Probably.

Niall went out on the balcony first, it wasn’t actually that warm but he was still wearing his jacket anyways and had it been freezing, he probably wouldn’t have noticed, he was just way too caught up with the view and this entire experience. Surely it hadn’t been Liam’s intention, but Niall had never felt poorer in his entire life and the thought of almost having gotten his will and inviting Liam to his own place and cooking for him almost made him cringe now.

“That’s crazy… I’ve never been up so high.” Niall half whispered as he stared over the city, not going too close to the edge though because he already felt a tiny bit dizzy. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Is that bad?” He sounded scared and Niall finally turned his head to look at him, feeling as if he was exaggerating a tiny bit, but how could he have not?!

“No, sorry, I just… I really wasn’t expecting this, like, obviously… this is insane.” In the best way possible of course. It had been absolutely unnecessary though, that was for sure, this place was bigger than Niall’s own apartment and suddenly he didn’t even wanna know anymore how massive Liam’s place probably was. Or what car he drove. Or car _s_. “Thank you, I don’t think anyone’s ever put this much effort into a first date with me. Or… into a date in general. I mean, I know the situation is quite different and you were afraid someone would see us b-“

“That’s not why I did it. We could’ve been private somewhere else, I just… wanted to make it memorable. I guess.” Liam wasn’t looking at Niall and the laugh he let out sounded more than just nervous, almost making Niall wanna go and hug him or something. He didn’t though, he just felt a really stupid smile spreading on his lips. 

“So this isn’t where you take all your dates?” Niall teased to lighten the mood a bit though he was certainly a little curious.

“I don’t really go on too many dates, so no.” Comforting.

“Right… you usually skip that stage.” It had slipped out, as a joke really, but Niall regretted it at an instant. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. It was a joke.”

“Kinda true though.” The older man admitted after a moment and Niall relaxed a bit. It hadn’t been a secret anyways, and yeah, it had been a factor Niall should have also considered before asking Liam to go on a date, but again, he hadn’t considered anything at all when he had done it. “But just so you know, um… there wasn’t anybody, like… since we met at Louis’s studio.”

“Okay.” Was all Niall said because he didn’t feel like it was his place to really have an opinion though he was kinda relieved to hear it anyways. Which kinda bothered him, but… he couldn’t exactly help it, could he? It had almost been a month since that night at the studio, which was long but somehow it felt a lot longer to Niall as well. It was like Harry had said, the way he felt as if he knew Louis for much longer already, Niall kinda felt the same. “I don’t really go on dates either, so at least we’re both not the most experienced.”

“I’m glad.” Liam chuckled, running his fingers through his hair and Niall watched him a bit too intensely. “Should we go back inside? We can also stay out here if you want.”

“Nah, I’m kinda getting cold anyways. And it’s not like the view from inside is any worse.” Maybe even better because it was the other side of the building. Then again though, there probably wasn’t a bad side anyways, not when people had to pay thousands of pounds to spend a night here. Or even more, who the hell knew anymore.

So they went back inside and Niall didn’t really know what to do or what to say, so he was just kinda hoping that Liam would lead this date a little because this whole thing was really throwing him off track. Luckily, the older man seemed to somehow sense that because he was very quick to walk over to the table. “Okay, if you’re hungry-“

“I am.” Niall quickly interrupted because he really was, he hadn’t been lying before in the elevator.

“Okay, good. We can just get anything you want.” Liam told him before handing him the whole menu, very obviously not just a normal room service one. Was it normal that rich people didn’t wanna see the prices next to their food? Or did it simply not matter?

“Careful, you might regret saying that in just a bit.” The younger man joked as he sat down, again feeling overwhelmed as he looked through all the choices. This was so crazy, hopefully Liam didn’t have any more surprises in his sleeve because they might have just about killed Niall.

“I mean it though, we could get everything if you want to, it doesn’t matter.” He probably didn’t notice what this sounded like because he was just trying to be nice and stuff, but Niall did briefly look up to stare at Liam for a moment, once again being overcome with the realization how weird this whole situation was. They were living such different lives in every single aspect, it was actually kinda funny that they even had anything to talk about at all. “You don’t drink, do you?”

“Not really, no.” Well, Niall did have the occasional beer, but he actually wasn’t really feeling like it right now. Also… “I might have to just, uh… order the same thing as you. I don’t think I’ve had even one third of these things on here, especially not the high end versions of them.”

“The high end versions?” Liam let out a laugh, luckily not offended but Niall hadn’t meant it in a bad way anyways, just… it was okay to be honest, right?

“Yeah, I don’t know, I just… I’d rather just eat what you eat, and be on the safe side.” Then again, who said they liked the same things? “Although your taste buds are probably a lot more developed than mine so that might not be the best idea either.”

“Tell you what, we’ll just get a few things in smaller portions, I’m sure you’ll like some of it. I can choose, if you want me to.” He was really trying his best here and now Niall felt really ungrateful, as if he was somehow making fun of it or so, but he truly and genuinely was just overwhelmed as hell at this point. Hopefully Liam knew that. 

“That’d probably be the best idea, thank you.” Niall meant it when he closed the menu, feeling slightly relieved but at the same time still terrified. Every few seconds he just HAD to look around somehow, as if all this was just some really bizarre dream. 

Liam took care of ordering everything and he did try to involve Niall in the process but the younger man said yes to absolutely anything he suggested, which he probably realized but didn’t comment thankfully, so that was really nice. By the time Liam had ended calling down to the reception, Niall had managed to somewhat get it together again and secretly pinch himself underneath the table, just to be sure. He was definitely awake.

“Okay, shouldn’t take too long. I hope you don’t starve in the meantime.” Liam joked as he came back to sit down again and Niall playfully rolled his eyes, shoving his phone back into his pocket after quickly checking in with his mother. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just my mom, she gets worried really easily. And I just wanted to make sure she still remembers May’s bedtime.” She did, she just wouldn’t keep to it as usual because the little girl had her grandparents wrapped around her little finger. 

“Did you tell your mother that, uh… that you’re on a date?” The older man cleared his throat a bit, playing with a napkin on the table and Niall almost wanted to reach out to make him stop.

“Yeah, I even told her your name and that we met through a mutual friend, so she can’t ever say I was lying.” She’d still be pissed no doubt, but when was she not?

“I almost told my mother, but, um, I didn’t, because… you know, she told me about the zoo. Like, about May.” Right, Niall had almost managed to forget about that until now. “And about you.”

“What’d she say? We barely spoke two words.” No idea what Harry had said after Niall had taken off with his daughter, kinda rudely actually, but what choice had he had? 

“Just how cute May was and whether I knew her and you and all that. Because you work for Louis and stuff, so… I said we talk sometimes.” Also not a lie, they were really good at this, both of them. “She, uh… “

“What?” Niall kept pushing when Liam suddenly broke off, now having torn the napkin apart completely. Plus, his face was also kinda blushed so actually, the younger man had a good idea what Liam was about to say, avoiding his eyes.

“She, like… got a bit too excited about that, so… I decided not to tell her about tonight.” Oh. 

“In case things go really badly and you suddenly realize I’m actually not that great?” It was just a joke of course, but then again… it wasn’t impossible, was it? They didn’t know each other for very long after all. 

“No, just because she can be a bit… too curious about these kinda things.” Sounded familiar.

“Like Louis?” There was definitely no one worse than him, impossible, Niall was terrified of the moment he’d find out about today.

“Not quite… but close. I’m still sorry about telling him without warning you.” Liam sounded guilty, still, even though by now it literally didn’t matter a single bit anymore.

“I told you to stop apologizing, Liam, it’s whatever. He was bound to find out, at least we got that over with, so, maybe it was a good thing. And it was kinda my fault, I could have just… replied to your message.” Just the thought of seeing it in the middle of the night still kinda gave Niall goosebumps though it had been over a week. It had just really been out of nowhere and now they were here. “But anyways, that’s over, no one needs to say sorry anymore. Okay?”

“Okay.” The older man agreed, finally looking up again, but he had made a right mess of that tissue by now. “I wasn’t actually… I wasn’t really sure you really meant it when you said you’d wanna go on a, uh, date. I wasn’t even sure if you were into guys, like… “

“I didn’t know you were into guys either.” Or had he? Niall couldn’t remember anything regarding that, but then again, he knew way too much about Liam anyways. 

“I am, it’s… not really a secret either. Like in the public and all, so… “ Good, that solved one problem, right? In case any of this ever came out then no one would be surprised, only once they found out who Niall was probably. “I wanted to ask you something… “

“Sure, what?” This alone got Niall’s heart beating faster again, which he absolutely hated but there was nothing he could have done to change it and at least Liam seemed to be even more nervous than him as he lowered his eyes again. 

“I was just wondering, because of something we talked about… about you dating. Or not dating, actually… Because you said you had no time and because of your daughter and… that you didn’t actually want to be in a relationship… “ Liam didn’t continue and he never actually asked a question, but there really wasn’t a need to anyways because Niall knew what he was implying here, or meaning to ask. 

“The thing is, I’ve not been actively looking to be in a relationship and… I don’t really have a lot of free time, that’s true. And I haven’t been on a date in ages, but there’s also not been anyone and… when you asked me and stuff and then when we talked about it, I kinda decided that I’d like to see where it goes. And yeah it makes everything slightly more complicated that it’s you because of May, but… I’m positive she’d be fine with it, she’d just need some time to get used to it. To you.” In case anything actually came out of, well… THIS. But Niall kinda didn’t wanna say that. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Liam asked back, seemingly confused and Niall wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to have these conversations so early on but… if not now, when?

“What’d happen if… you know.” Actually, that was something Niall had been thinking about for days now, because he wasn’t all that clueless. 

“Well… “ The older man started, playing with another napkin now and Niall truly thought about taking them all away from him because watching made him a bit fidgety himself. “Obviously everyone would eventually find out, like… keeping it a secret works for a while but it’s exhausting and it always comes out in the end and… but I’ve never really… the people I dated were kinda in the public eye as well before I even met them, at least the ones in the last few years, so… “

“So you don’t know what would happen?” Or he just didn’t wanna say it out loud. 

Liam didn’t answer immediately, he seemed to think about it, weigh his answer maybe, but eventually, he did open his mouth again, talking slowly, as if he was afraid he’d scare Niall off or something. “I mean… everyone would know your name, and May’s name, and where you work and how we met and… most times we go somewhere. And… there’d probably be break up rumors at least once a month and… speculations about, um… everything, pretty much.”

Well, that certainly didn’t sound very good, did it? Not like Niall hadn’t already known, but still.

“But you know what it’s like, don’t you? You’ve probably at least read about my last relationship and how it ended and stuff… “ Right.

“I honestly didn’t pay much attention to that stuff though, I only really took notice of the things that May was interested in and she’s 6, so… but I know what you mean.” And he had known it before he had asked Liam to go on a date, so he really needed to stop letting that influence him because it didn’t fucking matter right now, did it? They were on their first date, they weren’t going to get married tomorrow. “We should probably just see where this goes first.”

“Probably… “ Liam agreed, looking up for the tiniest second though and Niall kinda wanted to say something else, lighten the mood, but he never really got the chance to anymore because he was yet again not able to believe his eyes once the food came.

Things were still slightly awkward for a few more moments until they really started eating and Niall had to admit that Liam had definitely done really well with the choices he had made, but he also kinda felt like it wouldn’t have mattered in the end. Surely whatever was made here HAD to taste good or something if people paid that much for it. 

“I’m so glad now I didn’t get you to agree to come to my place instead.” That would have surely been an embarrassment. But maybe it simply felt like that because Niall was now seeing how rich people did dates. 

“Why?” Liam seemed to genuinely be confused but he was probably just trying to be polite.

“Because… “ Niall started, making some movement with his hand before taking a sip from his water, and even that somehow tasted differently than normal water. “All this. And my cooking isn’t that great either.”

“I’m sure you’re a great cook.” The older man even kept a straight face while saying it somehow so Niall let out a laugh for him instead. “What? Why’re talking yourself down?”

“Because my only judge is a 6 year old girl.” Well, and the occasional people that came over but neither Harry nor Zayn were gifted cooks themselves, so they really had nothing to compare it with either. “But if you’re that keen on finding out for yourself… you’re still welcome to come over sometime.”

“I’d love to.” He seemed surprised for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected Niall would ever wanna see him again after tonight or something. And as if he hadn’t talked him out of having the date at his place a few days ago. 

“Okay. We should make it a date.” Niall joked, but it still caused Liam to blush a little bit though he playfully rolled his eyes at the younger man. “All of this food is so good, how is that possible?”

“You gotta wait for the desserts they do, they’re crazy.” Shit, he wanted to get even MORE?

“I don’t know if I can still eat anything else after this.” Seriously, had Liam actually ordered the whole menu after all?

“Then take some with you and eat it on the weekend or something. I bet May would love that.” She surely would, just like she loved all the sweets Louis always gave her as well, and whatever Niall’s mother gave her when Niall wasn’t there to stop her and… maybe he should have started monitoring that a little better. 

“She definitely would… but she surely doesn’t need any more reasons to love you.” Eventually she’d connect the dots once Niall had introduced her to Liam again, and then she’d either be super excited or super mad at him. “You’d warn me if you did anything, right? Like… bring out an album or something?”

“’course. But I’m not anytime soon, although the writing is going alright right now, so… you know I’d just give you a copy, right? I’d also pay you back for the Meet and Greet, I agree they’re really overpriced, but I don’t have a lot of say in that.” Seriously, if he didn’t stop offering that at some point, Niall would say yes one day. 

“It’s fine, it’s like… months in the past by now, I already made up for it by working a few extra hours.” Getting the job at Louis’ studio at the same time had truly helped, even if Louis still forgot to pay him sometimes, the money always ended up in Niall’s account in the end. “Anyways, let’s talk about something else.”

Niall quickly interrupted because he had been sensing Liam was about to say something, so he made sure to start talking about the food again, and then after that ask Liam a ton of questions about whatever else came to his mind, like about his album and maybe his tour a bit, just performing in general, and Liam was more than willing to talk and answer questions before asking Niall stuff as well. 

It was really nice because they definitely got to know each other a lot better because they were completely by themselves, with absolutely no time pressure. Probably also because they both avoided talking about anything unpleasant the whole night, or coming back to what they had been talking about before the food had come. This wasn’t really the right time to get all serious and stuff, it was literally their first date and Niall just wanted to enjoy it, get to know Liam better and just… talk to him. Because he was really easy to talk to, and he was funny and he seemed to genuinely be so interested in everything Niall had to say and it was really nice.

Niall really only checked the time when he felt himself getting tired and he had had to suppress a yawn or five, somehow shocked to see that it was already 11 at night, because time had really passed by without either of them noticing. How had FIVE hours passed just like that? Yeah, they had been eating for ages and then taken a break and then gotten dessert, but still. 

“You don’t have to drive home if you’re too tired.” Liam started, but he was really quick to carry on before Niall even had the chance to get suspicious. “I’d leave, obviously. Just saying, you look really tired and I technically have the room until tomorrow.”

“It’s fine, I’m not that tired, I’ll manage somehow. And I think driving to my parents’ in the morning from here would be an absolute nightmare as well.” Niall would have literally had to get up at some ungodly hour to avoid the morning traffic in the city. Like yeah, it actually didn’t matter when he picked up May, but he hated not keeping his promises to her, especially because she was always so excited to see him after spending the night at his parents’ house. “Are you not tired at all?”

“I’m used to staying up late. Also, my week has probably been not even half as exhausting as yours.” Liam noted and Niall wanted to tell him that wasn’t true, but they had been talking every day and he knew what Liam had been up to so… maybe.

Luckily Niall didn’t see if Liam gave anybody a tip when they left, he simply gave the room card back and the younger man assumed that he had already paid for it all beforehand, or would do it after. He kinda didn’t ever wanna find out if he was being honest, it was already enough that Liam handed him an already paid for card to get out of the garage once they had rode down in the elevator. 

“Thank you for all this, I still can’t quite get over it, like… “ It had been amazing, but also kinda crazy, which Niall didn’t say out loud because he didn’t wanna sound ungrateful or make Liam worry that he hadn’t enjoyed himself. Because he definitely had. “Best first date ever.”

“You’re welcome… I was really afraid I’d go way overboard, and I know I probably did, but… yeah. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I, uh… I really had a good time as well.” Liam was nervously running his fingers through his hair despite the fact that he had definitely not been nervous anymore the past few hours. Or had simply concealed it really well, but either ways, Niall still thought it was really cute. 

“Good. Next time we should still do it at my place.” Niall was kind of joking, but also kinda not, if Liam really wanted to see his place and experience his cooking… he could have that. 

“I… I’m just really happy you want there to be a next time.” When Liam said that, he was laughing all nervously, scratching the back of his neck this time and in all honesty, it was the craziest thing ever that anyone in the world, especially someone like Liam, would be this happy and excited about getting to go on another date with Niall. 

“W-“

“Okay, well, um… I should probably leave.” Liam simply interrupted Niall, as if he was afraid of the answer or something, and there was a split second where they just looked at one another and then Liam was truly about to just turn away, so Niall acted out of impulse really.

They had hugged before as well, so that wasn’t a big deal at all, only this time it was a real hug, and not just a half one, and Liam smelled even more incredible now if any impossible. Surely, it felt like the hug lasted a lot longer to Niall than it actually did, they didn’t say anything to each other, just held on for a moment. And Niall truly lost it or something, like, there was no explanation for it except maybe that he had completely turned off his brain.

Right when they were about to pull apart, Niall quickly turned his head to kiss Liam’s cheek, like super briefly, his lips barely brushing the older man’s skin and he actually was so shocked by his own action that he decided to just ignore it had ever happened. It was truly late, he should’ve already been asleep by now.

“Thank you again for… everything. Goodnight.” Niall somehow brought out, his heart beating fast as hell though and he could barely look Liam in the eyes now. “Um, text me when you’re home.”

“Yeah, I- you too.” And then they just parted like that, their cars parked kinda far away from each other and the moment Niall got into his, he actually needed two whole minutes to just sit and stare at the wall and think about what had just happened. 

Fuck, he really liked Liam.

 

\-------------------

 

“I know you’re not the going out type of guy, but-“

“I’m really not.” Niall made sure to tell Louis before he could even finish, afraid of what he was about to say. 

“Good, I don’t count house parties as going out.” The older man finished, grinning triumphantly at Niall as if he had somehow won an argument or whatever. 

“Aren’t you a bit too old to throw a house party?” Mainly because of the way he made it sound, as if he wanted to get high and then have a wild night or something. Which he could do of course, but Niall wouldn’t be there to witness it. 

“I’m 28? Anyways, it’s more like an… Easter party.” Had he just made that up?

“Easter? I’m spending that with my p-“

“It’s not on Easter, obviously, don’t be stupid. I’m just having a party at my place, on the 13th, that’s a Saturday night, so I don’t think you’ll have any excuses, sorry.” Louis made it sound as if it was a fact before getting up to get himself something to drink and Niall just watched his back for a moment, resisting the urge to look at his phone right now because he knew Liam must have texted him back by now. It was almost as if the other man had read his thoughts. “Liam’s coming.”

“And?” They still hadn’t told anyone about the date, but it had only been two days and it was Monday now, so… but they had been talking nonstop and Niall had no idea how he was still keeping this a secret from his own daughter, but somehow he was. He hadn’t stopped thinking about Liam basically since they had said goodbye Friday night, so… he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

“Harry’s coming as well.” Louis simply carried on, as if that was somehow a surprise. “Just say yes, don’t play so hard to get all the time.”

“Hard to _get_?” Niall let out a laugh though he felt his face getting a bit hotter. He certainly hadn’t been playing hard to get with Liam, had he? 

“You know what I mean. Just come, it’ll be fun. I’ll introduce you to my other friends and stuff, we’ll have a good time.” Did Niall have a choice anymore now? “I’d say you could bring May as well, but… probably not a good idea.”

“You think I would’ve genuinely brought my daughter to a party at your place, with Liam there as well?” Niall wasn’t THAT much of an idiot. 

“That’s why I’m saying it’s not a good idea. But more because we’re gonna drink.” If it had been his plan to make Niall wanna show up more then he was definitely failing at that right now. 

“I d-“

“I’ll tell you all the details some other time.” The older man decided before Niall had even agreed or voiced his worries, because apparently it didn’t actually matter to Louis anyways, so Niall didn’t complain either. He could still decide whether he’d actually show up or not, he highly doubted that Louis would be too upset if he didn’t. Plus… Niall wasn’t really sure if it would have been a good idea to go because his date with Liam had gone really well and they were talking every day and… how’d they pretend none of that had happened? “I’m getting bored, when are these pricks gonna show up?”

“Can you not call the only source of income this studio has pricks?” Seriously though… the people in this band kind of were pricks. “They told me they’d be here by 12, I can call and ask what’s up.”

“Well, do that, what else am I paying you for?” Louis joked and Niall pretended to be upset but only for about a second because the older man was already laughing at his own joke. 

So Niall called them and they didn’t pick up, but they texted him a minute later saying they had gotten held up somewhere and that was basically it. Of course that really upset Louis, but Niall talked him out of texting them something a 12 year old would text someone in a fight and instead offered to go and get coffee in the meantime, from the place on the other side of the street. It wasn’t very good, but it did the job. 

Niall of course used the chance to text Liam back, asking him if he had known about the party, but the other man immediately said no, along with some terrified emoji that made Niall laugh like an idiot while waiting in line. Right when he was about to go back inside the studio, somehow juggling two steaming hot cups and his phone and his keys, Liam threw him a little off track.

 

_Liam 12:14  
I just wanted to ask you, can I see you sometime this week?_

 

He worded it as if he really wanted to, as if it didn’t matter when as long as they could meet up and Niall ended up entering the studio again with his face feeling hot as hell, not having been able to text back yet though. 

“Thanks, I really need that. If they don’t show up by 12:30 then we’re leaving, I don’t have time for this.” Louis was still upset, he had gotten out his laptop while the younger man had been gone but Niall simply ignored him anyways, sitting as far away from Louis as possible so he wouldn’t risk him seeing his phone. 

 

_To Liam 12:16  
Im currently in the studio with louis, but I can text you my schedule in a bit? Or just tell me when you have time_

 

Was it stupid that Niall’s heart was almost jumping out of his chest upon sending this text? Most likely.

“You know what I was wondering?” Louis kinda interrupted Niall’s happy moment and the younger man quickly tried to wipe that grin off of his face as he looked over with a questioning stare. 

“What?” Not that he really cared, it was probably something really fucking stupid.

“Who is this Zayn guy that you and Harry seem to know? Harry has mentioned him a few times, like, randomly, and he seems to hate him.” Oh Jesus Christ.

“Zayn’s a friend of mine, but… he and Harry don’t get along and they don’t like each other, so… “ Niall shrugged because it wasn’t a big deal, he just wondered why Harry would talk about Zayn in general, they hadn’t seen each other in ages, had they? Then again, it was probably the same as when Zayn randomly mentioned Harry just to talk about how annoyed he was by his existence or something. 

“Why not?” Good question.

“Don’t know, they just didn’t hit it off when I introduced them and no other time after? They’re just very different personalities, maybe that’s why. And Harry doesn’t like Zayn’s work ethic or something and Zayn hates how healthy Harry tries to live and… it’s stupid things like that.” Shrugging, Niall went back to staring at his phone again, scrolling through Liam’s schedule that the older man had just texted him to see when it’d be best for them to meet up. Only so shortly after their first date and they were kinda already going on their second. 

“You should bring him to my party, I wanna meet him as well.” Was he being serious?

“Harry is gonna hate you for that.” Zayn would be thrilled though, he’d never say no to a party, especially not to one with kind of rich people. And Liam was a celebrity after all and- wait, oh god, what if he’d talk to Liam about the time he had met him when they had both been smashed?

“Why? There’s gonna be other people as well, they don’t even have to talk to each other. I just wanna see if he’s really as weird as Harry makes him out to be.” What the hell had Harry said about Zayn? “Also, I think Harry would blame you anyways and not me.”

“Great.” Niall rolled his eyes at that but he also quickly decided he didn’t care too much in the end. Harry and Zayn were both his friends and they knew that, they could both just suck it up. “How are things going with you and Harry?”

“Really good. Why? Did he say something?” Almost immediately, Louis was sitting up more straight and Niall already regretted asking. 

“No, I just wanted to be polite, I don’t actually care.” The younger man quickly talked himself out of having to have this conversation, but he should have probably expected that Louis wasn’t going to just let him off the hook like that.

“How are things going with you and Liam?” Great.

“We’re still friends, thanks for asking.” Niall told him in the most sarcastic voice he could manage, not looking up from his phone though to make sure Louis knew how much he did not care right now. He wasn’t going to get pissed off because that was exactly what Louis wanted. 

“Just friends?” He kept on pushing and there was for sure a stupid as fuck grin on his face, but Niall didn’t bother checking.

“Yep.” Was all he said because he knew it didn’t actually matter what he answered anyways, Louis would still have his suspicions. And rightfully so, after all, they had both lied to him multiple times and they were again keeping secrets from him and everyone else, so… “Do you enjoy being this damn annoying sometimes?”

“All the time. Love it.” There was truly no reason for Niall to try and make Louis mad, he’d never succeed and it was always just him who got upset in the end. Amazing. “You know I will never let either of your forget that you lied to me and tried to tell me I’m imaging shit when it was all real all along.”

“I think we know that, yeah, you’ve made it quite clear. Multiple times.” And again every single time that he and Niall saw each other as well. God, if he ever found out about their date and everything else going on… 

“Good, just wanted to make sure.” Louis winked at him when Niall made the mistake of looking up and he refrained from rolling his eyes and instead focused on his phone once more because he and Liam still hadn’t agreed on a day. “Are you texting him right now?”

“No.” Niall lied, maybe a little too fast though and his cheeks turning hotter was probably giving him away as well. 

“Tell him I said hi.” The older man simply ignored Niall’s answer, yet again reading him like an open book, but luckily their conversation was then cut short because the guys who wanted to record had finally decided to show up and rung the doorbell. Niall still made use of that one minute of Louis walking to the door to text Liam back, telling him that May would be at a birthday party on Wednesday. He was definitely too desperate to see Liam again, but that wasn’t a bad thing… right?

 

\------------------

 

“Okay, come in.” Niall was very obviously nervous when he let Liam enter his place after him, making sure to close the door as soon as the older man had come inside, looking around. “Umm… I can give you a tour or something, but it’s not that-“

“I’d love that.” Liam quickly told him, feeling bad because he had a feeling Niall was embarrassed. The younger man had been talking his apartment down the entire time in the car, right after talking down his car as well the moment Liam had gotten in. After Niall had voiced worries about what would happen to a car like Liam’s in the area he lived in and since Liam had been picked up by a car this morning anyways, they had decided it was best if Niall just came to pick him up. Right after dropping his daughter off at a birthday party. “It’s not even small or anything, why’d you say that before?”

“Because it is.” Niall shrugged, taking off his shoes so Liam did the same before following him. “Okay, that’s the living room, the kitchen is over there, I’ll show you that in a bit, that’s the bathroom and- um, I actually wanted to close this, but… well, here’s your own face twenty times on a wall.”

“Wow.” Twenty times was probably not even coming close. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, if it wasn’t you it’d be something or someone else. At least it’s not horses.” That made Liam laugh, though he was still really impressed by how chill Niall was about all of this, allowing his daughter to be a fan and all that, even financing it. Before he had met him, Liam wouldn’t have ever thought that parents of kids who liked his music actually did any of that stuff. “You’re a bit easier on the eyes than a horse.”

“Thank you so much.” Liam laughed again, kinda really happy that he was here and that Niall had invited him and yeah, it wasn’t Liam’s idea of a real date, but that didn’t really matter, did it? They had already had a date like that and it had gone really amazing and now… now Liam had genuine troubles going to sleep at night since then. 

Niall then continued his tour, but it only took like 5 more minutes. He wasn’t very motivated to do it and Liam knew why and he kinda hated the reason, because he didn’t at all think that it was somehow small or cheap looking or whatever Niall had called it before in the car. Neither did the whole area seem dangerous or whatever, but Liam didn’t say anything regarding that because he didn’t wanna sound as if he was somehow… looking down on Niall or whatever. 

“I really like it.” Liam made sure to pronounce one more time as they walked into the kitchen and it didn’t look as if the younger man believed him, but… it was the truth. “You really don’t have to cook, you know, we could also just-“

“I already got started before, so you have to eat this now or I’ll have to throw it away, sorry.” Niall was clearly joking, but Liam felt his face turning hot nevertheless. 

“I- that’s not why I was-“

“I know, calm down. I was just joking.” The younger man laughed, playfully shoving Liam but it still sent goosebumps over Liam’s body from having Niall touch him. “Do you ever cook?”

“Rarely.” Liam admitted, kinda intrigued to watch Niall cooking for the same reason. He really admired him in that sense, he wasn’t that old either and he was managing life a lot better than a lot of people Liam knew who were a lot older. “Sometimes I help my mom on Christmas though, so… I’m still better at it than Louis for example. Not that that’s hard.”

“I can imagine.” Niall chuckled, moving around the kitchen while Liam leaned against the counter, trying not to stand in the way as he observed a few pictures of May on the wall. “Are you going to his party? He keeps texting me about it.”

“If you’re going.” What other reason did Liam have to go? He normally never went to Louis’ parties and he’d really only go to see Niall and just thinking and saying that kinda made him blush, but the quick but soft smile Niall threw at him for that kinda made it worth it. 

“I still haven’t decided yet… ‘m not quite sure what I’d even do there. And also… “ He broke off for a moment then, looking through a cupboard, but Liam kinda had a feeling that wasn’t the reason he was hesitating. “It’d be quite hard to like… pretend that we’ve not been on two dates. Or… or possibly more. I mean, that party is like 10 days away.”

“Yeah… “ Honestly, Liam wasn’t even thinking about that at all, all he could think of now while watching Niall moving around his kitchen was that not only was he thrilled that Niall truly wanted to go another date soon, but also that he actually hadn’t felt this happy and certain about something in a really long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :)
> 
> so this is a really early update because i am actually going out (shocking, but its just to the cinema and the film starts kinda late haha) and i dont wanna make you guys wait until like 1 in the morning (or even longer depending where you live), so i hope youll enjoy his chapter :D
> 
> im moving things more quickly now, as you can hopefully tell because i wanna get to writing other parts that im super excited about!! yet again ive got 6004382 billion things planned for a fic and getting too caught up in detail. im trying my best though! 
> 
> im really happy that so many of you are still enjoying this fic so much and writing me such lovely comments, thank you so much & i love you guys <3


	9. Chapter 9

“…so what are we going to do about that?“ Niall kept on pushing when Liam didn’t answer and the older man had to force himself to blink a few times, stop staring at Niall like a bloody idiot. 

“Umm… I don’t know.” He admitted after a moment, because he really didn’t know. Maybe going to this party was a dumb idea after all, but if neither of them showed up then Louis would start asking questions anyways. “There’s still time until then.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t change anything.” The younger man was right, but truth be told, Liam couldn’t really think straight right now because he was still stuck thinking about how Niall had implied he wanted to go on another date in the next few days. And also a little bit with how good he looked today. Not that he didn’t normally, just… anyways. “You don’t care, do you?”

“About what?” Liam had again gotten lost in thoughts and this time Niall just laughed at him, playfully trying to hit him with the kitchen towel. “Sorry. I just… there’ll be a lot of people at that party, knowing Louis. I don’t think it’ll really matter or that anyone will pay too much attention to how me and you interact.”

“I hope so. But I don’t really wanna go to the party anyways… Louis wants me to bring a friend of mine just because he wants to know why Harry doesn’t like him.” Sounded like something Louis would do. 

“Which friend?” Somehow Liam felt a bit useless just standing there watching Niall cook, but it seemed he had everything under control and the older man wouldn’t have been a big help anyways. Plus, whenever he thought about offering, Niall was literally just stirring the pot. 

“Zayn. He’s a high school teacher… you’ve met him, actually. Before you even met me.” Wait, what?

“What do you mean?” Now Liam was confused, especially when the younger man suddenly let out a laugh before reaching for his phone that he had put on the counter, briefly scrolling through without giving Liam an answer. And when he did, Liam truly wished he wouldn’t have ever asked.

“Do you remember making this video?” When Niall handed him his phone, Liam literally had no idea what to expect as he pressed play, already expecting the worse when he saw himself. It truly didn’t get better as the video progressed and by the time it was over, Liam was pretty sure his cheeks had never been hotter. “Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t think I am.” Liam answered truthfully, slowly handing the phone back, a little afraid as he looked up into the older man’s face, but he just seemed amused if anything.

“You don’t remember making that, do you?” Thank fucking god for that.

“Not… really. When was that?” Probably during the time Liam had been feeling like shit, but like, that had been going on for a while so it was hard to say.

“Back in December, I think. My friend, Zayn, likes to go out a lot and he met you there and… he was drunk and so were you and he thought it’d be a good idea to ask you to do that. And apparently you bought him a whole bunch of drinks as well. I actually never really planned on talking to you about that, but I thought if we do end up going to that party and you meet him… it’d be better to be prepared.” That was true, however, now Liam kinda really didn’t wanna go anymore. “Hey… sorry if, like… if I shouldn’t have shown you that, I-“

“No, no, it’s my own fault. I mean, I did that, so… also, that was months ago, and I’m glad you told me now and that I won’t be all clueless if I meet this friend of yours. I just… I can’t believe you still allowed May to be a fan after that.” Actually, Liam had been wondering that for a whole while already.

“Why? It’s not like I showed her, I cropped the video for her. I showed it to Louis though, back then, I can’t believe he never mentioned it to you.” Jesus Christ, why?! “Sorry about that.”

“Well, he never said anything, so we’re all good, I guess. And no need to apologize, we didn’t even know each other then, so… was there anything else I should know about?” Liam didn’t actually wanna know if there was, but he felt like he should have been prepared, just in case.

“Hmm… “ Niall seriously started to think about it and Liam could feel his heart speeding up as he stared at the younger man still stirring the food. “Just you and Zayn making out at that party, but-“

“Wait… _what?!_ ” No, this couldn’t be for real, could it?!

For a moment or two, Niall and Liam just looked at one another and Niall’s face was all serious, right before he broke out into laughter and Liam could feel relief rushing through him. Thank fucking god. “I’m joking, sorry. Would it have been so bad though?”

“No, it’s just… it would’ve been weird because he’s your friend. Oh god.” Surely if that had actually happened then Niall wouldn’t be going on dates with Liam and mention it so randomly, but for just a second, Liam had actually believed him. “That really wasn’t nice, you know.”

“Awww, I really am sorry.” Niall didn’t sound like he was, but Liam decided to forgive him anyways. “You’ll get a super great home cooked meal as apology. Okay?”

“I think I might be able to forget about it then… but only if it’s really good.” No doubt it would be, Niall seemed to be used to cooking every single day. Also, Liam would have never told him had it actually sucked, so there was that. “Do you need any help?”

“No, it’s almost finished. But thank you. You could get the plates though if you want, normally that’s May’s job, so… you can fill that position if you like. But I’ve got very high standards, just so you know.” The younger man threw a grin at him, pointing to one of the cupboards and Liam returned the smile, slowly shaking his head as he went to get the plates for Niall.

This was really nice, it somehow felt a lot more domestic than it should have after such a short amount of time and it only being their second date, but somehow Liam couldn’t get over how much he was enjoying himself just doing every day stuff like this. Or maybe every day stuff for Niall, because it surely wasn’t like that for him.

As expected, the food Niall had made was really good and Liam was actually surprised by how good. The younger man just brushed it off though when Liam complimented him, but there was a smile on his face so Liam hoped that he didn’t think he was lying. Liam offered to do the dishes by himself and Niall joked asking when the last time was that he had done that and well… the truth kinda hurt, but at least it made Niall laugh quite a bit. 

“Okay, sorry, I don’t have dessert because I was running out of time preparing, but… we got cookies?” Niall offered once they had gotten done cleaning up, and Liam quickly told him that he loved cookies, which wasn’t even a lie anyways. 

So they sat on the couch, with some tea Niall had made while Liam had obviously done a really bad job at washing the plates by hand, and some cookies with half the package already empty because May seemed to have gotten into them without Niall knowing, and Liam actually thought that this was much more comfortable than what they had done for their first date.

“When do you have to pick up May?” Just so Liam could prepare himself a little.

“Hmm… in about two hours I reckon. Don’t worry, I can drive you to wherever you gotta be before that.” Niall seemed to have thought that that was why Liam had asked, putting an entire cookie into his mouth at once.

“Oh, I can just call myself a taxi when-“

“For what? I’ll just drive you.” He shrugged after swallowing, but right before eating another cookie, he suddenly looked at Liam again. “Unless you wanna call yourself a taxi because you think my driving is shit.”

“Your driving is just fine.” Liam reassured him though he was aware it had probably been a joke anyways. “I just thought in case you’re in a rush or something… it wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

“Maybe May wants to stay a bit longer anyways, I’m just gonna call the mother at some point and ask how it’s going. It’s not that late yet anyways.” It was around 4 in the afternoon now, so they had actually been really quick with the eating and cleaning up, for which Liam was really grateful because he had known their time together would be limited. “I’m surprised May even got an invite to that party.”

“Why?” Hopefully Niall wasn’t about to say that his daughter had trouble making friends or something, because Liam could have really related to that if he thought back to his own school time and he knew that not fitting in wasn’t any fun. Luckily though, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“The mother doesn’t like me very much so… but most parents don’t, actually. Thanks to you.” Niall added the last part in a joking way, but Liam kinda had a feeling there was some truth to it.

“Sorry about that.” Truly though, he WAS sorry about that.

“Don’t be, it’s whatever. I mean, May is my daughter, and I never saw a harm in her liking you, so… these parents can just suck it up. They also don’t like me because I’m so much younger than them and things like that, it’s really wild dealing with these people sometimes. It’s just like in those movies.” The younger man let out a laugh, taking a sip from his tea and apparently promptly burning himself a little. 

“Do you also gotta bake cakes and take part in like… I don’t know, field trips and stuff?” What did Liam know how this worked? He literally didn’t know anything at all about parenting.

“I should be, but I’m not. I mean, for May’s birthday I usually make a cake or cupcakes or whatever, but other than that I try to stay as far away from that school as possible. I wouldn’t wanna take part in anything there even if I had the time. Don’t think they’d want me there anyways.” It didn’t sound bitter or anything at all, Niall just seemed genuinely glad and Liam couldn’t help but admire him yet again. “I can’t wait for when she’s older and goes to middle school or something, I truly hope the parents are less involved there.”

“I can imagine… you kinda make parenting look so easy though, as if you’ve always got it all under control.” Like seriously, Liam couldn’t even IMAGINE Niall not having things under control or not knowing what to do in any given situation.

“I really don’t. I guess maybe it just looks like that on the outside because I’m used to not letting it show when things don’t go after plan. I wouldn’t wanna stress May out or something, so… “ Niall shrugged again and even while saying that, Liam still didn’t believe him. He had never met anyone so young and so in charge of their own life somehow and it was really impressive to him. “I’m still exhausted sometimes and think about quitting all of my jobs at once, so there’s that. I guess everyone feels this way sometimes.”

“Definitely.” Liam quickly agreed because he could relate painfully much to that. “You probably have a lot more reasons to think that way than other people though.” 

“I don’t think so, actually. I mean, yeah, I have a kid, but _your_ life is probably a hundred times more stressful than mine. Especially when you gotta travel and stuff.” Then again, Liam also got a lot more recognition for what he did, but he didn’t say that out loud of course, it just made him feel slightly bad. “Actually, do you have to go anywhere in the near future? I’ve not really thought about it, but you’re probably gonna have to go to other countries for you tour, right? And to other continents.”

“Yeah, I do, but my tour only starts in like a month, and then it’s only Europe. I’m only going to America in the summer.” Which, actually… Liam hadn’t really thought about too much yet, he also didn’t really know what Niall thought about it either because they were only really talking about it now. And to be quite honest… there’d probably be quite a few things they should have discussed earlier, before going into this head over heels. It was a little too late for that. 

“So you’re going to be gone all summer?” When Niall asked this, it didn’t sound disappointed or anything close to that, it sounded like a simple question out of curiosity, but Liam couldn’t help getting slightly stressed out over it.

“Not _all_ summer, probably only like… a month.” And then he’d be in Australia, but somehow, Liam didn’t actually feel like adding that. Especially because the tour dates weren’t a secret to begin with, they were literally online. “I usually always come home a lot during that time.”

“Doesn’t that get stressful?” Niall was eating even more cookies now, sounding genuinely interested in the answer though.

“Sometimes, yeah… “ Truth was though, sometimes Liam was rather at home, even if only for a few days and if it took two really long flights then… it was worth it somehow. “I’m not complaining though, I still love it. And I’m grateful I didn’t actually have to cancel the whole thing, so… “

“So everything is working out now with your manager and stuff?” They didn’t really talk about that anymore, mostly because there wasn’t anything left to say and the number one thing Liam was now worrying or thinking about was actually Niall. Louis had definitely been right when he had said Liam had a tendency to fall for people when he wasn’t doing too well, but… this here was still different. Mostly because Niall was different. Or actually, he was normal, but Liam didn’t know a lot of people like that anymore. 

“Yeah, it’s all good. I was probably overreacting a little when we saw each other in the studio.” Or a LOT. 

“That actually feels like it’s been ages ago.” Niall was right, it did feel like it had been more than just about a month, which was a good thing of course. But also a little scary maybe. “Like, not in a bad way or anything. I’m happy things are working out for you now.”

“Yeah, me too. Also… “ Liam started, before deciding that maybe he shouldn’t have but then it kinda seemed like it was too late.

“Also what?” Niall asked around a mouthful of cookie and Liam just looked at him for a moment, already feeling himself getting a little stressed out and blushed. 

“I mean… I wasn’t feeling well that day, but… if it hadn’t happened… “ Then they wouldn’t have met probably, but Liam just made some gesture with his hand instead of actually saying it out loud. “Anyways, uh… those are some really good cookies.”

The younger man just let out a laugh, taking the compliment even though he hadn’t made them himself obviously, but he was nice enough to spare Liam the embarrassment of having to talk on about what he had just said. Probably because his face was way too hot already anyways.

They just spent some time talking on the couch, Niall made some more tea and he also found some more cookies in the kitchen, and he did end up driving Liam somewhere before it was time for him to pick up May. Liam didn’t ask him to drive him home, because that would have surely taken too long, but luckily Niall also didn’t ask what he was planning on doing at the other location. Get a taxi home, but… he didn’t have to know that. 

“Thanks for driving me.” Liam hadn’t gotten out of the car yet, he was still just sitting there, contemplating whether to lean over and hug the younger man. “And for cooking and for the cookies.”

“Yeah, the cookies definitely took the longest to prepare.” Niall joked, not making any movements as if he was in a hurry though. “I’m glad you liked the food. Or pretended to at least.”

“I wasn’t pretending.” Did he really think that?

“Okay.” Niall laughed and apparently he wasn’t experiencing the same internal struggles as Liam was the entire time because it looked quite easy for him to lean over and hug Liam. Thank god. “So, we’ll see each other again soon?”

“I- yeah, of course. If you want t- I want to. Just let me know when you have time and… yeah.” God, Liam really needed to stop sounding so damn desperate, but he couldn’t help it.

“I will. Kinda funny that you’re saying that to me when you’re the popstar.” When he pulled back from the hug, his face was really happy and Liam was missing having him close already, but he managed to get himself together. 

“You’re a lot busier than me though. And I don’t have too much coming up, so… “ He was kind of on a break before tour really, except for the album writing, but… that was a whole other story. “Text me when you’re home?”

“I will.” Niall promised with that crooked smile that Liam loved on him, the one that made his heart skip a beat or two and he kinda hated himself for that, but he also couldn’t help it.

When Liam got out of the car, all he could think about was that next time they went on a date, he definitely should be the one brave enough to kiss the younger man on the cheek.

 

\-------------------

 

They saw each other again the following Sunday because May was spending the day at her other grandparents’ house and it was really the only time Niall had a few hours to spare. Liam did come over again because it was just the easiest solution without anybody seeing them and Niall was still slightly terrified of actually going to Liam’s place because… it would have only made this whole celebrity and rich thing a bit too real probably. 

Like, that was a huge factor that worried him, but he really tried to ignore it most of the time even though that actually wasn’t very typical for him. Basically, Niall just pushed all these problems far away, especially the one where he would have to tell May and his mother and everyone else because he wasn’t even sure yet where this thing would even go. Yeah, they got along really well, they had a great time on every date and Niall could definitely see himself falling for Liam even more, but… he also wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. Not that he told Liam that, because he had a feeling the older man was in a little deeper already, especially when he kissed Niall’s cheek on the end of that third date and Niall definitely started to have doubts again once he was alone.

Because May was on spring break the next week, Niall was having a little trouble coordinating his work, but because he could take her along to a lot of things and his parents were happy to help out, it somehow worked out. This of course did also mean though that he basically had no time at all to meet with any of his friends for things that weren’t work related and especially not with Liam.

Maybe this was why Niall somehow let himself be talked into actually going to Louis’ party, and asking Zayn to come along as well because… why the hell not? Harry could just suck it up, he only ever talked about Louis anyways and it was getting a little annoying, so Niall actually doubted that he and Zayn would even cross paths too many times. And even if they did, it really wasn’t Niall’s problem.

“I kinda forgot to tell you something.” Niall started when he and Zayn were getting out of his car. Niall didn’t plan on drinking anything and he somehow needed to get back home, so he had decided to drive them because Louis had reassured him he could just park wherever. Which turned out to be correct and Niall was actually relieved to find out that at least Louis didn’t live in the poshest area either. Still better than Niall’s.

“You’re screwing this Louis and I’m actually crashing a date?” Zayn asked, sounding unimpressed and also not at all curious. Probably because he had no idea what Niall was about to say.

“Definitely not.” The younger man reassured him immediately, locking his car but remaining on the sidewalk so Zayn stopped walking also.

“Then what?” He was seemingly eager to get inside, he had been thrilled when Niall had invited him a few days ago. Mostly so he himself couldn’t back out last second anymore.

“I’m not the one screwing Louis.” Niall started before hesitating, playing with his keys for a moment before deciding to just spit it out. “Harry is.”

“W- _What?!_ So he’s here as well?! And you’re only telling me _now_?!” At least Niall was telling him at ALL because he was kinda sure Harry didn’t even know.

“Sorry, but it’s whatever, there’ll be lots of people, who cares? Also, there’s something else.” The much worse part. For Niall at least.

“What else?” Now Zayn looked kinda pissed, not so eager anymore, but apparently he still wanted to go to the party more than he hated Harry, so Niall didn’t really care that much. Also mostly because he knew his friend would have about a billion more questions once he actually said the other thing.

“Umm… Liam is also coming. As in, Liam Payne.” Though Zayn needed a moment to let that sink in, it was visibly making him happier, so Niall decided to add the last part quickly, just get it over with. “And I’ve kinda been texting him for like a month now, so… we’re kinda friends.”

“Wait, what the hell?! How did you _forget_ to tell me all this? Also, I- how does that even work? What about May? And what do you mean, _friends_ , are you… oh my god, you totally have a thing with this Liam guy, don’t you?! Oh my god-“

“Shhh, we’re literally outside Louis’ house! I’m not having a thing with him.” Not yet. 

“Then why all the secrecy?” Zayn actually looked disappointed, as far as Niall could tell because it was already dark outside. They were kinda late as well, but it was a party for god’s sake, so whatever. At least Niall had gotten to stay at his parents’ house until May had fallen asleep.

“I don’t know… ‘cos it’s a little… weird. And I haven’t found the time to tell you yet. Anyways, just… be normal. Please. And don’t ask him about that time he bought you drinks and made that video for May. And please don’t start a fight with Harry, I hate when you guys act like fucking teenagers around each other. And-“

“So basically, I should just shut my mouth the whole night? Why did you even invite me?” A good question. 

“Louis said I could. And there are lots of other people anyways and I know you like parties and surely there’ll be some interesting people and stuff, I mean, Liam’s a celebrity, Louis knows lots of celebrities, so.” And Niall hadn’t wanted to show up by himself. “It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, I don’t know anymore if it will be. I’ll just get drunk.” Great.

“Not _too_ drunk, please. Remember when-“

“I probably don’t, but let me guess, some time in the past where I was drunk and asked Harry something stupid and then we had a fight and it sucked for you?” Sometimes Niall truly hated his friends. “I’ll stay away from him. But it’ll be a bit hard when we’re literally in his boyfriend’s house, that _you_ invited me to.”

“He’s not his boyfriend. Yet. I think. Whatever, let’s just go.” Niall had decided that he didn’t care anymore, or that he would just pretend not to care anymore or whatever because it didn’t matter now, they were already here, it was possibly already too late. He should have probably told Zayn sooner, but now that was over anyways and Niall tried to forget about his worries, which genuinely wasn’t that easy.

When they arrived, there were already a whole bunch of people there, which was kind of a good thing because that meant there was no awkward and forced small talk between Niall, Zayn and Harry. Basically, Niall simply introduced Zayn to Louis, who had already noticeably consumed alcohol, and then Louis kinda made the smallest effort ever to introduce them to his friends while Harry and Zayn stuck to nodding at each other across the room. 

Yeah, and then came the part Niall had kinda been terrified of, the moment he realized that Liam hadn’t arrived yet and that everyone knew each other and Zayn just fit right in somehow and Harry and Louis were glued to each other like sticky tape and he had no idea why he had come. It was stupid really, Niall wasn’t someone who needed lots of people around him or a shit ton of friends, but moments like these, he did realize that he had sort of forgotten how to… socialize maybe? Which was a little sad considering his age, but things had just been different in his life.

Niall tried talking to some people he didn’t know, and then to Zayn because Harry was kind of avoiding him, probably pissed that Niall had brought Zayn along. It was probably the most pathetic shit ever, but when Liam FINALLY arrived, Niall actually had a hard time not falling straight into his arms and running after him like a lost puppy the entire time.

“How are you doing?” Liam asked after they had hugged briefly, as literally the last people in the entire room because they had discussed how they’d handle this beforehand. Right now his plan of barely talking to each other so Louis and Harry wouldn’t notice they were a lot closer than just friends who texted occasionally seemed pretty fucking stupid to Niall. 

“Um, great. You?” Niall lied, throwing a nervous glance across the room, but Harry and Louis had somehow disappeared anyways and no one else was paying attention to them. Plus, it was really loud anyways, so that was great. 

“Alright.” Liam shrugged, seemingly not so motivated to be here either, which gave Niall a little bit of hope. For about three seconds. “I’m getting a drink, do y-“

“Wait.” Without thinking about it, Niall had immediately reached out to hold onto Liam’s arm, letting go again the second he had noticed what he was doing though. “I, uh, I’m coming with you.”

“Okay?” The older man let out a laugh, but he didn’t seem unhappy about it, so Niall ignored the fact that he felt stupid as hell for kinda wanting to not leave Liam’s side again the entire night. It’s just…. he only knew 4 people here, and 2 of them were probably shagging in some other room and Zayn was already drunk and having the time of his life. So that only left Liam. 

So Niall tagged along with Liam to the kitchen, asking him a whole bunch of things, how his day had been going and then more personal things, just making sure everyone else thought they were in deep conversation and wouldn’t dare to approach them. That only really worked for so long though Liam played along nicely, seemingly amused by it all. Maybe also a little happy, but that was possibly just Niall’s imagination.

“And I-“

“Heeey, Nialler, don’t you wanna introduce us?” Zayn had clearly had one or fifty drinks too many at this point, his hand landed heavily on Niall’s shoulder and the other man flinched a bit.

“Uh, sure. Liam, that’s Zayn, one of my friends, Zayn t-“

“Hey, mate, so nice to meet you properly. Finally. God, it’s kinda surreal to see you in real life after seeing your face draped on Niall’s daughter’s room for years. You know her, right? Actually, we already met before, doubt you remember it though, you were shitfaced.” So much for keeping his mouth shut, huh?

“Nice to meet you too. I’m not sure I remember that, I hope I didn’t do anything embarrassing.” Liam joked, clearly a lot better at this small talk thing than Niall. But he was also having a drink, so… 

“You bought me and my friends a ton of drinks, so that was actually really great. Niall almost lost his mind over it the next day though, he thought we hooked up or something a-“

“I think that’s enough, Z.” Niall interrupted quickly before this would get even more embarrassing. For him mostly, because Liam actually didn’t seem to care at all. Was that how the alcohol made him? Suddenly all relaxed and talkative, leaving Niall as the only nervous one for once? “Are you… enjoying yourself?”

“Definitely, Louis’ friends are really cool. And so is Louis, by the way, can’t believe he’d be into someone like Harry. Where’d they even go?” He questioned before emptying half his glass in one single go before turning to Liam again. If only it had been the first one. “Have you met Harry?”

“Briefly. Just before, actually.” Liam answered truthfully and it made Niall realize that now everyone knew everyone. And yet no one knew that he and Liam had been on three dates and were texting all fucking day and talking on the phone every night.

“He’s weird. Right? Niall doesn’t believe me. I don’t know why they are even friends.” Okay, this was slightly getting out of hand.

“I mean, I haven’t really talked to him, so… “ Liam tried to talk himself out of it, clearly amused though by Zayn being all serious, or trying to be because he was very obviously intoxicated. At least that meant he didn’t seem to find it weird when Liam simply switched the topic. “Niall told me you’re a high school teacher?”

Yeah, well, and then Zayn went on and on about his students for at least 15 minutes or something while Niall was just standing there, trying not to zone out too much. Which didn’t really work all too well, but… he was trying his best. And so was Liam, only he was doing a much better job because he was probably used having to talk to random people he had only just met.

The thing was though, with Zayn and Liam being all caught up in conversation, they both just kept drinking as well, as if they weren’t even noticing anymore, and Niall refrained from saying anything because… he wasn’t their fucking parent, was he? He needed to just relax about these kinda things, no one actually wanted him to patronize them, did they? And it was no one’s fault but his own that he had decided to stay completely sober. As the only one in the entire house.

Harry and Louis did decide to show their faces again after a while, after Liam and Zayn had been talking for so long that they had literally made it to the very beginnings of Liam’s career, and Niall tried to keep up with them, but it was slightly hard when they were both somewhat drunk and having the time of their lives for some reason. He wasn’t upset about it or anything, but he also didn’t feel too bad when he simply went off to the bathroom and upon returning started talking to some stranger who chatted him up.

This was good, because then Harry and Louis wouldn’t ask questions about Niall and Liam acting too close around each other. Which they weren’t doing anyways thanks to Zayn, so yeah. And it’s not that Niall was jealous or something, he was just a little worried what Zayn was telling Liam and vice versa whenever he looked over while pretending to listen to this random person. Okay, but why had he really decided to show up again? May would have been more than happy had he stayed home instead.

The thing was, Liam didn’t come over to Niall after he and Zayn had stopped talking, probably because he knew everyone else as well and because he had had quite a bit to drink by then, but somehow Niall still had some trouble not running after him again. This had been their damn plan, to keep their distance, right? So what was his problem now? They weren’t dating, they could both do whatever the fuck they wanted.

And yet Liam had said he’d only show up to see Niall. And now he was getting drunk and talking to anyone but him while Niall was being a jealous twat somewhere across the room. Amazing.

“I’m trying to fix your problems for you. You’re welcome.” When Louis came over to Niall it was kinda unexpected, and Niall felt stupid for being relieved, but he couldn’t help it. Whoever this person that had been talking to him until now was, they definitely needed to lay off the drinking a bit.

“What problems?” Niall immediately felt slightly paranoid, his eyes automatically going to Liam across the room, but luckily that wasn’t what Louis had been referring to. 

“I convinced Harry to have a chat with Zayn to work out their differences.” Oh god.

“Why would you do that?” Okay, NOW Niall was genuinely panicked. 

“Why not? Zayn seems rather cool, maybe they just need a good conversation and they’ll be fine.” Definitely not. Also, Louis smelled like alcohol and Niall was pretty damn sure that both Harry and Zayn had only agreed to this because they were both drunk as well. “You don’t look like you’re having a lot of fun. Do you want a drink or something? You seem awfully sober.”

“I am. And I don’t want a drink, thank you, I still gotta drive home later.” Sadly he couldn’t do it now, because that would have been a bit too soon and also, Niall didn’t wanna look like a complete idiot. Even more than he already was. 

“Why are you so pissed off?” Louis was joking but Niall still felt a bit caught, like, he really didn’t wanna be the person at some party who was standing there judging everyone else, but he hadn’t been at a party in a long time and now he knew why. “Is it because Liam ditched you?”

“He didn’t ditch me.” Niall answered automatically, checking his phone quickly just to have something to do. He had only been here for around one and a half hours, would it have been alright to leave after two? Zayn could just call himself a taxi or something if he wanted to stay, right? “It’s not like I came because of him.”

“You didn’t?” Okay, why was Louis genuinely confused now?! “Well, if you want me to, I can go over and tell him you’re w-“

“I think I’m good, thanks. Actually, I need the bathroom.” Could Niall have acted a little more like a diva? Probably not.

This time, Niall spent a bit longer in the bathroom, texting his mother out of all people, but he told himself it was fine because he just wanted to know if May was doing alright, if she was still sleeping and stuff. As if she hadn’t ever spent a night away from him or something. God, Niall was truly pathetic, wasn’t he?

He did go back after a while, and after receiving no word from his mother or father, meaning they were probably already asleep again as well. Maybe Niall should have done the same to be honest, he clearly wasn’t made for parties anymore, especially not parties like this one. Because Louis had found something else to do in the meantime, Niall again had no choice but to talk to some strangers, although he did end up talking to Harry then, who told him something about how maybe Zayn wasn’t that bad after all. Yep, he was clearly smashed as well.

Niall wasn’t really watching the time, but quite some more had passed by the time he realized that Liam had disappeared, and with him Louis as well and maybe it shouldn’t have worried Niall the way it did, but he couldn’t exactly have helped it either.

“Have you seen Louis?” Niall asked Harry, who looked a bit confused for a moment, but then just shrugged.

“Probably in the bathroom.” The younger man told him before turning back to talk to whoever and Niall kinda wanted to ask if he had seen Liam now, but… not the best idea. So he decided to find Louis first instead, which turned out to be a good choice. Or maybe not exactly the best.

He WAS in the bathroom, but he wasn’t by himself and also, Niall was freaking the hell out already without even knowing what for. 

“What’s going on?” Liam was there as well, only, he was sitting on the floor kind of, not looking all too great and Louis was sitting on the edge of his own bathtub, holding a glass of water for the other man but clearly having a hard time to do so as well. 

“Liam’s not feeling so great. Had a bit much to drink.” Louis explained, as if he hadn’t had anything to drink himself though Niall could hear it in his voice anyways. 

Niall just threw a look at Louis before deciding to ignore him, his maternal feelings coming through at an instant as he got down in front of Liam, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder, rubbing a bit. “Hey, are you okay?”

“’m doing great.” Liam joked, his words sounding a bit slurred though and generally it was very obvious that he was feeling anything besides great. 

“You don’t really look like it. Drink something.” Niall took the glass of water from Louis because he looked like he was about to spill it anyways. Their fingers brushed when Liam reached out for it as well and Niall didn’t let go despite that, making sure to have a tight grip around it while the older man was drinking, not much at all, but at least it was something. “Are you feeling sick? Dizzy?”

“Hmmm, no.” Liam answered after swallowing, having to cough a bit though and though it was probably nothing, Niall was still kinda freaking out. “You look really good tonight.”

“Thanks.” God, this was the worst time ever for Liam to start making Niall drunk compliments. “Maybe you should lie down or something.”

“Not here though, it’s the only downstairs bathroom.” Louis threw in, still just sitting there completely useless and Niall rolled his eyes, genuinely thinking about pushing him into the bathtub now to get him to shut up. “I mean, you could go lie down in the guest room.”

“I’m feeling fine though, just a bit… dizzy.” Liam admitted before letting out a really weird sounding laughter and Niall made his decision within like 5 seconds, right when Liam had been about to expose them in front of Louis. “I really missed y-“

“I’m here with my car and I’m sober, I’ll take you back to mine.” Niall decided for Liam because what the hell, he wasn’t just going to leave Liam here or wait for him to sober up. “Can you get up?”

“Wait, you wanna leave? But the part-“

“No offense, Louis, but I kinda feel like I’ve been here long enough anyways. It’s not like you’ll notice if I leave.” He wouldn’t, no one would, and Niall didn’t exactly care about that anyways, all he cared about was the fact that Liam definitely shouldn’t be drinking any more and sitting here wouldn’t really help him either and May wasn’t home anyways, so… “C’mon.”

“That’s so romantic.” Louis joked as he moved to help Liam get up as well and Niall knew he’d never hear the end of this, but he also didn’t really care in this moment. Like, this was a little more serious and sadly he was very aware of Liam’s past when it came to drinking too much, so… there was that. 

Liam turned out to be somewhat fine once he had gotten up, but he was clearly uncoordinated so Niall decided it was fine if he kept his arm around him, just to be sure he wouldn’t stumble or anything. Obviously. “Louis, can you maybe go and ask Zayn if he wants me to drive him home?”

“Alright, but I doubt he’ll want to. Be careful while walking, Liam looks like he’s gonna puke all over you in a second.” The older man told Niall before taking off, hopefully to find Zayn and not some more alcohol instead. 

“I’m not going to puke… “ Liam half mumbled, clearly having a harder time now that he was actually forced to walk and Niall was still panicked but he tried not to let it show, for the other man’s sake. “I really missed you, like… the past few days.”

“I missed you too.” Niall quickly told him because it was true, but also he doubted Liam would really remember any of this tomorrow morning so he wasn’t too embarrassed by it either. “Can you warn me if you think you’re going to throw up or something?”

“Okay.” It didn’t really sound like he would actually do that, but… it was the really the best Niall could ask for.

No one really paid any attention to them as they walked to the front door and Louis only came back briefly to tell Niall that Zayn wanted to stay. He offered his help to get Liam to Niall’s car, but the younger man quickly declined, already annoyed enough when Louis winked at him like the fucking idiot he was before taking off. One thing was for sure, Niall already knew their conversation topic for next time when he had to work. 

“I’d drive you home, but… I don’t think you should be alone right now.” He also didn’t look as if he wanted to be alone, but that was beside the point here because this was actually more about what Niall wanted in the end. And NO, he did not want Liam to himself, he was simply worried, that was it. 

“I don’t wanna… get on your nerves or… or keep you from sleeping, or-“

“You’re really not.” Niall reassured Liam as he tried to slur out excuses, his brain clearly working slower than normally. 

It wasn’t too hard getting Liam into the passenger seat and putting a seatbelt on him, Niall was actually quite impressed with himself once he had gotten into the car as well, relieved to see that the older man was behaving himself so far. Actually, he just looked close to falling asleep if anything. 

“Fuck… I really had too much to drink… “ Liam mumbled once Niall had started the engine, making sure to put on google maps on his phone as well because he had no idea how to get back home from here, it was way too dark by now. 

“Why did you do that?” A serious question, why had he? Hadn’t he told Niall he was doing better now? That he had stopped the drinking and whatever else? Well, the _whatever else_ was obviously not something Niall was thinking about right now, he trusted Liam that he wasn’t screwing other people on the days they didn’t go on dates, that would have just been crazy. Also, it’s not like he could have hidden his public actions that well.

“I don’t know… I wasn’t thinking. Sorry.” The older man genuinely apologized, his eyes closed when Niall threw a brief look at him, once again being overcome by a rush of fondness for him.

“There’s no need to apologize to me, you can do whatever you want.” He was an adult, and actually older than Niall as well. “I’m just a bit worried, that’s all.”

“That’s why I’m apologizing.” Made sense somehow, it also made Niall’s heart beat a little faster and he felt a smile tugging in the corner of his lips. He really had missed Liam as well, and maybe he had been a tiny bit jealous before at the party, but that still wasn’t the reason why he was taking Liam back to his place now. It was simply that he didn’t wanna have to worry about him all night long. 

The drive took a bit longer because Niall might have taken a few wrong turns, but he doubted that Liam noticed because he seemed to focus his whole attention on not falling asleep anyways. He was obviously sobering up a bit and now starting to feel the other consequences of drinking so much, which maybe was a good thing because Niall really wouldn’t have wanted to get involved in some drunk conversation and then having to worry about Liam remembering it. 

When they arrived at Niall’s place, Niall decided to actually use the elevator the first time in forever, afraid Liam would stumble on the stairs or something. Also, he realized that he hadn’t really planned where to let the other man sleep, but there really was only one option anyways, his own bed. And Niall himself would just sleep in May’s, thank god they had upgraded it to a normal sized one a year or so ago because the couch wasn’t very comfortable either.

“Okay… do you wanna borrow something to sleep in? Don’t know if it’ll fit, but… “ But they could try. Also, Liam didn’t really look as if he cared all too much about that anyways, he was sitting on Niall’s bed after the younger man had told him he could sleep there, looking as if he was barely awake anymore. 

“I’m good, thank you… and thanks for giving me your bed, I can also sleep on t-“

“No, don’t worry, I’ll just sleep in May’s room. You can just lie down and sleep. Do you have to be anywhere tomorrow morning?” Well, if so then he’d probably have to cancel that, but Liam was shaking his head anyways while yawning, moving to lie down. “Okay, just sleep, you’ll feel awful enough tomorrow.”

“Thanks… “ Liam let out something like a laugh and Niall grinned, watching him lying down fully and he just couldn’t help but reach out to put the blanket over him himself, momentarily sitting on the edge of the mattress. 

“If you need anything, I’ll be in May’s room, you can just wake me.” He knew where her room was, he had already been here twice after all, but Niall was really just hoping the other man would manage to sleep through the night because he probably needed it.

“Okay… thanks, Niall.” It sounded very genuine, as if Liam was completely sober again for just a moment, but that only lasted for like 2 seconds because he was already passed out before Niall had even gotten back up again.

“Goodnight… “ The younger man mumbled to himself, staying there on the mattress for a little longer and just staring down at Liam, trying not to be excited over this because after all, there was nothing to be excited about. It’s just… having Liam here, knowing that he would be sleeping just a room away from Niall… it definitely did something to the younger man he wouldn’t have really expected. 

Niall didn’t stay for too long, because that would have been creepy as hell, but he did make sure to pull the blanket up higher so Liam wouldn’t get cold, also getting him a glass of water and a pill for the headache he would surely wake up with in the morning. And then, once Niall had gotten ready for bed himself and removed 50 stuffed animals from May’s bed before lying down as well, he couldn’t fall asleep for quite a while.

He was still glad that he had ended up going to that party though, despite the fact that it actually hadn’t been any fun whatsoever. Next time, he would possibly just have to ask Liam to go on a date with him instead.

 

\----------------

 

Liam felt disoriented when he woke up, mostly because once he noticed that he wasn’t at home or at Louis’ place, it took quite a while for him to figure out where he actually was. Well, and then figuring that out didn’t quite help to calm him down. Fuck, he couldn’t even remember last night that well, hopefully he hadn’t done or said something really stupid to Niall, like in front of everyone or in private. But if he had, Niall probably wouldn’t have taken him home with him, given him his bed to sleep in and left him water on the bedside table, right?

Hopefully.

Liam didn’t take the pill Niall had put there because his headache wasn’t actually that bad, he just felt a bit gross in general, and still tired, probably because it was only like 9 in the morning. Not a time he usually woke up at after a night out, but he also had no clue when they had gotten back and he was just lucky his phone still had like 10% charge and had been in his pocket the entire night long.

Because there were sounds coming from the hallway or somewhere in the flat, Liam didn’t feel as if he was just wandering around when he quickly went to the bathroom to use the toilet and wash his face, try to look a little bit more human again before going to find Niall. Although he had no idea what to say or what to expect and he was nervous just like always, but then also… they had been on 3 dates so far and they talked a ton, so… Liam was definitely starting to feel less unsure about this whole thing. Not that he had been very unsure in general, he had known that he liked Niall for a while after all.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Niall was in the kitchen doing whatever when Liam found him, he looked rather happy, a little different than usual in his sweatpants and his sleep shirt, but it only made Liam want to hug him even more right now. He didn’t though, obviously.

“Alright, actually… a bit tired, but I’ve had worse.” Liam joked, letting out a bit of a nervous laugh. “Um… about last night-“

“Nothing happened, you just had a bit too much to drink, that’s all. You also didn’t say anything weird or so, if you were wondering about that. I just took you home with me because I was a little worried, so… “ Thank god. “I’m making breakfast, so I hope you’re hungry.”

“I am, thank you, but you really didn’t have to.” Honestly, Niall had already done enough for Liam, much more than he would have had to. 

“I know, but I wanted to anyways. And you told me you like my cooking so now you can’t go back on that, sorry.” The younger man laughed and Liam felt his heart warming a bit, the knot in his chest loosening a little. 

“I meant it, so I won’t. I could help you though.” So Liam once again was allowed to get the plates and stuff like that, which was completely fine of course because he wasn’t the most gifted cook anyways and he also didn’t wanna be in the way. 

Their conversations were light while Niall was still preparing breakfast, it felt rather domestic actually, as if they had woken up here together a few times already. In different beds though, but obviously Niall wouldn’t lie down in the same bed as Liam after they had been on 3 dates. Not that Liam would have minded it but… 

“So what’d you think about Louis’ party?” Liam asked once they had sat down and he had made sure Niall wasn’t leaving his daughter longer at his parents’ house just because he was here, but the younger man had reassured him that it was just fine. 

“Not much. I’m actually kinda terrified about what Zayn and Harry are going to text me later because Louis made them talk and they were all pretty drunk, so I’m not sure what happened. Other than that… it was a little boring.” He shrugged, taking a bite from his food and Liam tried not to watch him too obviously. There was something he wanted to say regarding last night, but he didn’t really know how and he also wasn’t sure if it was even necessary, but… 

“I, uh… “ Liam started after a moment of hesitation, looking down at his plate because he wasn’t actually sure how the younger man was going to react. “I just wanted to say that… last night, I was trying to keep to what we discussed, like… about us not interacting too much because of everyone there and… so that’s why I was keeping my distance.”

“I know, it’s fine, I know we discussed that and stuff, so… I don’t really go to parties and I don’t drink normally, so I was just bored, but that was my own fault anyways.” Niall sounded as if he meant it, but Liam still felt a little bad. He had kinda been watching Niall the whole night, in a subtle way, wishing he could have gone and talked to him or just spent time with him in general, but instead he had gotten a little too drunk. Well, it had brought him here, but Liam still regretted it. “I don’t think anyone would have really noticed us talking a lot though, and Louis is gonna have lots of fun talking about me taking you home with me anyways, so… maybe next time we don’t have to care so much anymore.”

“Next time?” Liam asked, because he hadn’t had the feeling Niall would want there to be a next party. 

“I mean… maybe next time we should just not go and do something else instead.” The way he said it so casual, as if it was obvious he meant himself and Liam alone was surprising Liam a bit, but at the same time he knew there wasn’t actually a need to still be surprised about that kind of stuff. Niall must have somehow liked him, _like that_ , otherwise he would have long stopped going on dates with Liam or talking like that. Right? “Unless you wanna go, then that’s different of course. I’m aware that a lot of people would probably prefer parties and-“

“I don’t.” The older man interrupted without thinking. “I mean, I think I’ve been to way too many parties in my life anyways. And I clearly still don’t know when to stop drinking, so… “

“Okay, so next time we either don’t go or you assign me to switch all your drinks with juice?” Sounded like a perfect idea to Liam as well. 

It was a nice breakfast, not rushed and no awkward conversation at all because of last night and Liam was always somehow waiting for the moment where Niall would start to get worried about what they were doing because of Liam’s lifestyle, but that hadn’t happened so far and it also didn’t happen today and the older man felt like there were things they should have discussed, but he also didn’t wanna ruin what they had. Or maybe _ruin_ was the wrong word, he simply didn’t wanna say things that would put tension on their relationship. Or friendship or whatever they had going on.

“You know if you’re up for it… “ Niall started after they were done doing the dishes and Liam had already mentally prepared himself to call himself a taxi in a minute so Niall could go and pick up his daughter. “Then maybe… well, I’ve kinda thought this through this morning when you were still asleep, but you could come with me. To pick up May, I mean, and… we finally get this done.”

“I- I could, yeah, wow, okay, um… “ That really surprised Liam, because, oh god, what if May would freak out? She was a 6 year old girl and she was Niall’s daughter and what if she totally lost it and… obviously Liam had known this would happen, but he hadn’t expected it to be TODAY. 

“You can also say no, I’d get it. And you weren’t feeling well last night, so-“

“No, it’s not about last night, I feel great, actually, I just… I didn’t think you’d suggest that. But I’d like to come with you, if you really want me to. I told you, we can do it however you want, she’s your daughter after all.” Also, did that mean… did that mean Niall could see them getting closer? Because if he was bringing May into this… “What about… your parents?”

“I’ll just introduce you to everyone as my friend, it’d be fine. I know your mother as well.” Well, not really and that was still very different, but… “You’re a bit pale.”

“Yeah, um… “ Liam started, clearing his throat while avoiding Niall’s eyes and instead playing with the sleeves of his shirt. Wow, was he really going to meet Niall’s parents after not showering or changing his clothes from a night out, completely unprepared?

“Hey, we don’t have to do that, sorry, I was going a bit too fast maybe. I’ve just been thinking about it this morning and I decided I don’t really like all this secrecy, but we can also wait. I don’t want you to say yes just because I suggested it.” Great, now Niall thought Liam didn’t want to meet his daughter and his parents, when in reality the issue was lying somewhere completely different. “Let’s just forget about it, okay? We can-“

“No, no, wait.” Fuck, Liam had already been nervous, but now that he had to act fast and couldn’t think it through properly, his heart felt as if it was about to just stop any second. Pretty sure he wasn’t pale anymore now. “I want to meet everyone, of course, there’s just something… something I’ve been wondering.”

“Okay?” Niall was clearly confused now, but Liam refused to look up. If he had been looking into those eyes, he wouldn’t have brought a word out for sure. 

“Um… because you said… you said you’d want to introduce me as like… a friend. Uh… does that mean, like… I mean, obviously we’ve, like… been on dates and stuff, so… I was just wondering if… or actually… where do we, um, stand, exactly?” Liam really needed to learn how to fucking speak, didn’t he?

There was silence, to make matters even worse, and Liam wanted to literally punch himself in the face for being so stupid and stumbling over his own words like that. It usually didn’t happen, usually he had no problem wording things or speaking in front of a ton of people, but Niall… fuck, with Niall, Liam literally turned into an idiot.

When the younger man didn’t say anything, Liam told himself he needed to look up now and see what was going on, but he didn’t in the end because he was a coward and he was terrified and then in the end, it was Niall again who did the first step. Although to be fair, it kinda was his turn to say something, although what else he did really wasn’t what Liam would have expected.

Instead of getting angry or something even worse Liam had been terrified of, Niall actually just stepped a lot closer, until Liam was literally _forced_ to lift his head a bit, his throat getting tight and his brain literally turning to mush. Wait, was he… was he about to do what Liam thought he was?

Niall didn’t speak up immediately, he just looked at Liam for a moment and the older man could tell that he must have been a little nervous as well because he was biting his lip a bit, and by the time he spoke up, he had literally come so close that Liam could almost feel his breath on his skin when he half whispered. 

“Can I… kiss you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... YES, we are finally getting there, after 9 weeks. im sorry i had to cut it off there, but i think we all know that liam isnt going to say no obviously! so i hope youre excited for the next chapter because lots of things are going to happen!!
> 
> ive been a bit distracted since i was away for that one week and i always hate when im having a flow in a fic and then i gotta leave it alone for over a week because its hard to get back into! i am still kinda getting back into this fic, but im also trying to move it along a bit faster, so thats different for me as well but im still really enjoying this fic & im so glad so many of you seem to feel the same way <3 
> 
> if you think its weird for niall to suddenly wanna move along so fast... just wait a bit please haha, i am going to adress everything and so on!! 
> 
> hope you guys have a nice week & that its not going to go by as slowly as mine just did because that felt like more than a month actually haha! im also waiting to hear back from an application for a summer job so next time i upload im probably gonna know if i have it or not and that is really stressing me out :p
> 
> thank you for all the support, love you guys <3


	10. Chapter 10

Niall wasn’t exactly sure what had come over him because this hadn’t been planned at all, he had never meant to ask this question or to kiss Liam right now in general, but then suddenly he had already said it and he was standing so close to the older man that it would have been weird had he NOT been asking that question.

Liam didn’t answer, he was just staring at Niall now and for a moment, the younger man thought that maybe he had interpreted all of this wrong, maybe Liam didn’t even want to kiss him and he had asked where they were standing for a whole other reason, but then… he kinda surprised Niall.

Not only did he definitely wanna kiss him, he was also even more eager to than the other man had expected. Liam basically just let a few moments pass, and then his hands were suddenly cupping Niall’s face and his lips were on top of the younger man’s before he had had the chance to react or close his eyes or do anything at all really except for be surprised.

It didn’t last for long, Niall’s state of shock, because he found himself lost in the kiss very easily. Liam’s hands were soft and warm against his skin and so were his lips, he wasn’t pushing anything or trying to deepen it too soon, but he had definitely wanted this just as much as Niall, maybe even more. 

Because it had been a while since Niall had kissed anybody, a guy especially, he was aware that maybe he was kinda holding back a bit, trying not to mess it up somehow even though that was stupid to think because it didn’t feel as if Liam would have actually cared what he did. He tasted like the breakfast they had just had and like orange juice and his beard was rubbing against Niall’s skin, the pressure of his lips increasing when the younger man kissed him back, slowly putting a hand on Liam’s hip. 

It wasn’t like a magical kiss or whatever, especially because it had been so unexpected, but it definitely felt really nice and there were butterflies in Niall’s stomach and he found himself not really wanting to pull away again anytime soon, and neither did Liam. In the end it was actually Niall who deepened the kiss, crowding Liam against the kitchen counter as he licked across his lips, pleased to have him immediately relax his jaw, allow the younger man entrance, his thumb stroking unevenly across Niall’s cheek bone, never letting go of him.

Somehow it almost felt familiar to be snogging him, even though Niall hadn’t snogged anyone in ages, but he very quickly forgot about that and just found himself getting lost in the kiss, in Liam’s touch, the way his tongue felt against Niall’s and his mouth. It was like, Niall hadn’t even been aware of how much he had actually wanted this until the moment it was actually happening and suddenly it was the best thing in the entire world.

Liam definitely was a gifted kisser, there was no doubt about that, even considering Niall’s lack of knowledge in that area.

When they did finally pull apart, Niall kept his eyes closed, his forehead still pressed against Liam’s, feeling the older man breathing quite heavily against his skin as they both struggled to catch their breath a little. Fuck, maybe Niall was already deeper in this than he would have thought. 

“That was… really nice.” Liam brought out in between breaths, a quiet laugh escaping him that sounded quite as if he couldn’t actually believe this had just happened. He definitely wasn’t the only one who felt this way. 

“Yeah… “ Niall agreed, half whispering before stretching a bit to kiss the older man again because he was kinda already missing the way his lips had felt against his own. Liam was only too willing to kiss back, his hands moving a bit down to Niall’s neck, giving the younger man shivers when his fingers rubbed across his skin and he only now realized how tightly his own fingers were curled in Liam’s shirt. “So… did that answer the question?”

“I think so… “ The older man whispered against Niall’s lips, again laughing a bit and this time Niall joined for a moment, the butterflies in his stomach kinda going crazy at this point. It wasn’t normal that he didn’t wanna stop kissing Liam right now, was it? He hadn’t felt this way in such a long time and it was all kinda coming onto him out of nowhere because he hadn’t expected any of it and now… now he never wanted to let go of the older man. 

“Good.” Niall decided, kissing Liam AGAIN despite the fact that his lunges were actually screaming for air at this point. He was just somehow a bit afraid that if he stopped kissing Liam, this moment would pass, and he really didn’t want it to. 

Actually though, the question hadn’t been answered at all. All that had been answered was Liam’s obvious worries that Niall only saw him as a friend, which would have literally been ridiculous at this point though. Liam was just unsure, which was fine of course, but Niall felt a bit guilty about that because it was his actions that were making the older man feel this way, it’s just… the problem was that Niall wasn’t really sure what he wanted himself. And he also hadn’t really been aware of that.

“You know… “ The younger man started after they had stopped kissing and he had leaned back just a bit, slowly blinking his eyes open to look at Liam again. “You really don’t have to come with me if you think it’s going too fast, I don’t know why I just suggested that so suddenly, I-“

“I want to come with you.” Liam quickly interrupted, maybe a bit too quick, but he also sounded very honest when he said it. “If you really want me to.”

“I do… “ But there was also the _but_ , because now that they had kissed… “I still… I still think I should introduce you as a friend to May. I’m also not sure if she’d even understand anything else if I told her, so… but that doesn’t mean I see you as just a friend. Obviously.”

“I’m glad.” Liam genuinely sounded as if he WAS really glad, his face was so much happier now and his hands were still near Niall’s face, still holding him, so Niall didn’t see a reason to let go or step back either. He also really didn’t want to right now. “As I said, we’ll do it however you want, she’s your daughter so you call the shots.”

“Okay… thank you.” Seriously, Niall really appreciated that and he hoped Liam knew that. “My mom is going to figure it all out instantly anyways. Like, that you’re the one I’ve been going on dates with and stuff. So that’s okay, right?”

“Of course.” Right, maybe Liam actually preferred that anyways, it kinda sounded like he did. Like he wouldn’t have minded had Niall told the entire world right now that they had kissed. “I’ve just… I wasn’t sure before, like, where we stand and… but now I know and I’m really happy and we don’t have to call it anything and we can do everything however you want it. Okay?”

“You’re so sweet.” The moment Niall said it, he could literally see Liam’s cheeks going pink at an instant, his smile getting more shy again and that only made Niall’s heart even fuller than it had already been to begin with. He was aware that this wasn’t going to be easy, whatever they were doing and wherever it would go, but suddenly he didn’t care anymore.

They stood in the kitchen for way longer than planned, Niall somehow couldn’t tear himself away and he probably kissed Liam five more times before actually stepping away so they could get ready to leave. He offered Liam that he could shower and change his clothes, but the older man told him that he was fine the way he was and Niall had a feeling he was just saying it so they wouldn’t be even later, but he stopped offering after the third time.

The thing was, though they had kissed and whatnot, Liam still seemed unsure when he reached out to hold Niall’s hand, tried to make it all natural, but it came across as anything but that and the younger man couldn’t help but laugh a bit, still squeezing Liam’s hand back of course. It only lasted for a few moments anyways, until they stepped outside of the building and Niall could tell that Liam was a bit tense though the chances of anyone recognizing him in those few steps to the car were pretty much zero.

“How do you think May is going to react?” Good question, also one that Niall wasn’t sure he could really answer.

“She is definitely going to be really happy to see you, that’s for sure, so… I mean, that’s the good part, I won’t have to worry about her not liking you.” Maybe that was one reason why Niall was kinda letting himself fall into this, because he knew May would like Liam, and he was pretty sure that his parents would like him as well, he was more worried about everything else. “I just hope she won’t be jealous.”

“Of you?” Liam asked while Niall was starting the car, hoping he wasn’t too deep in thoughts to actually drive right now. So much had happened in the past hour, he wasn’t even sure if he had already fully processed it. 

“Yeah. But also of you eventually. Maybe.” If they actually took it even further, if they actually… well, if they’d decide to put a label on it. “She’s used to it just being me and her, so… but I do kinda think that it will probably help that it’s you. And I don’t think she actually fully knows what a crush is so I doubt she’s actually crushing on you. My mom asked her once if she’d wanna marry you and she immediately said no, so… it’ll be fine. I think. Just a big shock for everyone, but… that’ll pass.”

“I hope so.” So did Niall, because he truly couldn’t predict what was going to happen and he was really fucking nervous about it, so he didn’t even wanna imagine how Liam felt right now. Then again, he was probably more used to stuff like that, right? But he also wasn’t the confident popstar whenever he was with Niall, so who knew what was going to happen.

They tried to talk about how to do this in the car, but the drive wasn’t very long and also, neither of them knew what was going to happen, so it was hard to actually discuss it and find solutions to it. Plus, Niall was maybe still a little caught up thinking about Liam’s lips whenever he threw a glance at him, or how his hand had felt in Niall’s and everything else they could have been doing together had they had more time alone.

Those times were going to come though, at some point, and Niall wasn’t even sure if maybe his worries wouldn’t start coming back until then, for example if May reacted really badly or if whatever else happened, but right now, he wasn’t thinking about any of those bad sides of literally being in the process of falling in love with a celebrity. 

“Should I really just come with you?” Liam seemed unsure once they had arrived at Niall’s parents’ place and Niall had stopped the car and yeah, maybe just going inside together was kinda bold, but… how else would they have done it anyways? 

“I’ll use my key so May won’t come running to the door if I ring the bell, okay? But you can also wait somewhere if you prefer that.” The older man always said he wanted to do it how Niall wanted to do it but in this case, Niall truly wanted to do it exactly the other way around somehow. If he imagined himself in Liam’s body right now, he would have been nervous as HELL.

“No, that’s fine. I just don’t want anyone to have a heart attack.” Sounded understandable. “Sorry, that was-“

“No, it’s true. But I think they’ll all be fine. I just feel like we won’t get to leave for a bit if we actually go in there now, so… do you have anything planned today?” Just so Niall knew, because it was a Sunday and all and he had no work to do except some stuff he could do on his laptop in the evening or at night, but maybe Liam was busy?

“No, nothing.” Or not. “Even if I did… this is more important to me anyways.”

“You’re really the cutest.” Niall said it without considering how blushed it would make Liam, but when he saw it, he couldn’t help but feel his mouth turning into a smile, reaching across the seats without thinking to touch the older’s heated cheek. “I kinda hope you’ll never stop reacting like that whenever I make you the smallest compliment.”

“Well, then I think I have good news for you… I probably won’t.” Liam told him nervously, letting out a laugh that sounded a tiny bit forced as well and no one could have blamed Niall for leaning over to kiss the older man on the lips out of nowhere. The fact that he could have done this at literally any time he felt like it now… kinda overwhelming. “Now I don’t know if we should go in together.”

“C’mon, it’ll be fine. Just let me handle everything.” No idea why Niall was suddenly so enthusiastic, but maybe it had been the kiss, it almost made him feel high somehow, almost as if this was something exciting to look forward to. When actually, it was the complete opposite and Liam was probably absolutely terrified. 

So to help him out, Niall kissed him again, probably just making him more blushed, but… whatever.

When they walked up to the door a few moments later, Niall went first, letting Liam decide on his own pace. He was actually kinda confident about this, which was a good thing because if he had waited and actually thought it all through, let a few days pass, he surely would have changed his mind about everything yet again. So he really wanted to just act while half his mind was still stuck on how it felt to be kissing Liam. 

“It’s me, anyone home?” Niall called out after unlocking the front door without ringing the bell, something he didn’t do very often, but today seemed appropriate. Then again by calling out, he was probably causing exactly what he had been trying to avoid and that was May being the very first to hear him and come running. At least this way, Liam was kinda hidden behind the wall when Niall half entered the hallway and May wasn’t paying attention to anything else anyways.

“Daddy!” She was coming from upstairs, but she was already dressed and her hair was brushed and Niall felt a bit bad for having let her wait so damn long to come and pick her up. But he was here now and the grin on her face was massive when she came running towards him, filling his stomach with warmth as he picked her up immediately, hugging her close. 

“Hi, darling. How’re you doing? Did you have so much fun?” Because he was holding her, Niall made sure to turn around so he was actually facing Liam now, who was just standing there in the entrance room, watching with a smile but seemingly nervous. 

“Yes! Look what granny did to my hair.” She had braided it in some complicated way Niall would now have to learn from her, but if it made May happy… “You’re really late, I’ve been awake for a long time.”

“I know, love, I’m sorry.” He truly was, kissing her forehead and then her cheek and he knew he was forgiven when May smiled before hugging him again, no clue who was standing right behind her. But that didn’t last for very long.

“Why didn’t you- oh, who is this?” Niall’s mother was coming downstairs a few seconds later, clearly not recognizing Liam on first sight, but also, she hadn’t looked at him as many times as Niall or May had and he probably also didn’t look like the typical celebrity today after a night out. But Niall couldn’t really judge that, because he had gotten used to seeing Liam in different settings and actually knowing him on a personal level. And also how he tasted like when they snogged, but yeah, that was irrelevant now.

“Hi, I’m Liam, nice to meet you.” Of course Liam was too polite to not say that and step forward and offer his hand, and Niall’s mother STILL did not get it because she immediately moved to shake it, but she also wasn’t the only person in the room besides Liam and Niall. 

“One second… are you the Liam Niall’s been going on dates with?” She sounded positively surprised as she actually shook his hand, still not recognizing him, but fortunately, or not, May did it for her.

“Daddy… “ The girl had taken some time to turn around in Niall’s arms and actually look at Liam, who seemed a bit conflicted between answering Niall’s mother and keeping quiet and letting Niall handle it from here on. Probably the best idea because the shock on May’s face was something Niall hadn’t really expected either. Although, he actually hadn’t expected anything because this situation was a bit extraordinary. 

“Yes, he is, mom.” Niall quickly answered his mother because she was getting understandably confused, making sure to look at May though before anyone else could say something. She didn’t really know what a date was anyways, right? “May, love, are you okay? You wanna go and say hi to Liam?”

“Hi, May, nice to see you again.” Liam jumped in immediately, coming a bit closer and putting up the sweetest smile ever and Niall tried not to get too lost in it because his daughter was a little more important right now.

“Wait, she’s already met him?” Niall’s mother had still not recognized Liam somehow, but maybe that was due to May’s lack of reaction because she was basically frozen in Niall’s arms, just staring at Liam with giant eyes. Okay, this was… not going too great. 

“Yeah. Mom, that’s Liam, as in, Liam Payne.” Niall tried to help her out a bit at this point, and it was almost comical really, that Niall’s father decided to come downstairs right in that moment as well.

“… are we really talking about this guy again the moment you walk through this door?” Great. “I thought May-“

“You’re Liam Payne?!” Niall’s mother hadn’t been listening to her husband at all, simply interrupting him and now came the moment where Niall kinda really regretted that he had brought Liam here. But it was too late for that now, wasn’t it? “You… you’ve been going on _dates_ , with _him?!_ Niall, what is going on here?”

“I can explain everything, I promise, just- dad, that’s Liam.” Okay, now Niall was overwhelmed and slightly stressed, also because May still hadn’t reacted really, but after Liam had briefly introduced himself to his father as well, clearly about to freak out a little but very good at overplaying it, the little girl finally woke from her trance. “May, you wanna- okay.”

Niall waited for a second until Liam was ready before handing his daughter over to him after she had stretched out her arms towards him, there were tears in her eyes as far as Niall could tell, but he didn’t get the best look because then she was already in Liam’s arms hugging him. At least she still loved him and probably hadn’t been listening when Niall and his mother had been talking about dates, that was a start. 

“Are you alright, love?” Liam was still really good with her, which was great, because Niall now kinda had his parents staring at him, in clear need of explanation. 

“We’re friends.” Niall just said it because he didn’t know where else to start, looking from his father to his mother. “Since a bit over a month, we met randomly in Louis’ studio, where I work, and… yeah. He’s Louis’ best friend, I think I already told you that b-“

“Why didn’t you tell us? Niall, this is… I can’t believe- and you’ve been going on d-... why didn’t you say anything?” Wasn’t that obvious?!

“Well… “ Niall started, but then he stuck to just gesturing towards May, who had a death lock around Liam’s neck anyways, hoping his parents got it. They did.

“Right. Well, this is… so she didn’t kn-“

“No.” Niall quickly interrupted his mother, panic filling his stomach though he didn’t think May was listening with just half an ear, she was probably crying Liam’s shirt wet at this point. “May?”

“Y-Yes?” Okay, she was definitely crying, which was breaking Niall’s heart a bit even though he knew it was most likely from happiness. 

“Are you alright, darling? Are you happy Liam’s here?” Niall reached out to stroke her back and hair, throwing an apologetic glance at Liam who was just standing there the whole time, rocking Niall’s daughter in his arms while being half strangled by her. This was a mess, they were crazy for having done this without a second thought. 

“Y-Yes… I m-missed him.“ Was all May managed to choke out somehow, but her reaction could have definitely been more negative, so Niall was honestly somewhat relieved even though she was bawling her eyes out.

“I’m so happy I’m getting to meet you again as well.” Liam jumped in, sounding as if he was all calm and whatnot, as if this didn’t even phase him. His eyes were telling a completely different story though.

“I think we should… talk.” Niall suggested after a moment, again looking at his parents and then back at Liam, somehow not knowing how to handle this after all. Fuck, he hadn’t even thought about how to explain this to May or anything, he hadn’t planned on doing this today or on snogging Liam today or… he had screwed up, that was pretty clear by now. Not with the snogging though.

So they all went into the living room and no one said anything for a moment while Niall tried to collect his thoughts, making Liam sit next to him on one couch and the older man rearranged May in his arms a little so that she was on his lap, her face tear stained and red. Liam should have waited in the car, shouldn’t he?

“Can you look at me for a moment, love? I wanna tell you something, okay?” Niall was trying his best, not even noticing that he was sitting so close to Liam that their thighs were pressed together because he was just focusing on his daughter right now, gently trying to wipe her tears with his fingers, brushing some hair out of her face when she did look at him, still sniffing. “Are you confused why Liam is here?”

“Y-Yes… but I-I’m h-happy.” She had a bit of a hiccup now, which was the cutest thing ever and Niall felt his heart getting soft when she added the second part as well. 

“I’m glad you are, bug. Look, you know how Louis took us to see Liam record that one time, right? After Christmas? And you know how Louis and Liam are friends?” He waited until May was nodding, her fingers still clenched around Liam’s shirt, as if she was afraid he’d disappear if she let go of him. “Me and Liam were both in Louis’ studio a while ago, you know where I work, in that room I sometimes take you to? And then we got talking a bit and we saw each other again a few days later and…. well, I thought maybe you wanted to see him again as well. And me and Liam are friends now, like… like, um… like Louis sometimes comes over and we talk and stuff? Or my other friends, like uncle Harry and Zayn. Do you… do you have any questions?”

“You handled that exceptionally bad.” Niall’s mother threw in from the other couch and Niall resisted rolling his eyes, only looking at his daughter right now because that was most important. He still felt like a terrible father though. 

“Are w-we… are we g-gonna see h-him a-all the time n-now?” Not the question Niall had been hoping for, but… who was he to complain now, seriously? 

“Sometimes, yeah.” What else would he have said? Niall shared a glance with Liam, kinda wanting him to say something, kinda wanting him to be quiet, kinda wishing they hadn’t done this. His feelings of uncertainty were a little reflected in Liam’s expression as well. “Are you okay, love? There’s not need to cry, yeah? I know you haven’t seen Liam in a long time and that I said we probably won’t see him anymore, but… he’s here now and it’s kinda just like when my other friends come over and we talk or something. Do you wanna blow your nose, maybe?”

So Niall spent a few awkward seconds until his mother handed him a tissue, throwing a warning glance at him though Niall didn’t really know what for. Like… what’d she want from him now? It was already done, everyone knew now. 

Niall helped May blow her nose and Liam attempted to dry her cheeks a bit as well with a new tissue, clearly feeling uncomfortable in this situation, but so was probably everyone by now. May did stop clinging so desperately to Liam after a bit and he rearranged her on his lap when she had stopped crying, not looking as she ever wanted to get down anytime soon though, but at least she was actually talking now. “Do you still remember me?”

“Of course I remember you, how could I forget you?” Liam sounded fake shocked, making the little girl grin and one thing was for sure, the older man knew how to save a situation. Better than Niall at least. “That was a little bit of a shock before when you just saw me standing there, huh?”

“Yeah… but it’s okay. I really missed you.” God, why was she so cute? It only made Niall feel even more like the devil for having kept this from her for so long, but… she was a child, what had he been supposed to do? “Are you really friends with my daddy?”

“I am, yeah.” Liam told her, briefly looking at Niall and the younger man shrugged a bit, trying to signalize to Liam that it really didn’t matter what he told her. Maybe they should have talked about that beforehand, but… they had been stupid and foolish and way too distracted by each other.

“Niall, do you think we could talk for a minute? Alone?” Niall’s mother interrupted and Niall leaned back a bit so he could look at her and his father, kinda having forgotten that they were still even here. 

“Um… “ He started, looking at Liam to check whether he’d be fine alone here and he simply nodded, giving Niall a bit of a smile that made the younger man feel better. But only a little bit. “Okay.”

“Sorry about this.” Niall’s mother genuinely apologized to Liam as she got up, throwing a look at her husband who then remained seated and Niall kinda felt like a child when he followed his mother to the kitchen while May started telling Liam something about whatever she had been watching about him, not even noticing Niall leaving. She’d never leave Liam alone anymore by her free will, that was for sure. 

“What are you doing?” Was the first question Niall’s mother had for him as soon as they were in the other room and she had even closed the door. Right, she was definitely upset. “You’re _dating_ this guy?! A celebrity? Your daughter’s… I don’t even know what to call it. Niall, have you even thought about this for one single second before bringing him here? Without warning us?”

“Of course I’ve thought about it. Mum, I’m an adult-“

“Barely. And after this I’m not quite sure anymore.” God, Niall hated himself for this. But he hadn’t had a real choice. “May is 6 years old, she’s never seen you dating anybody, let alone this man she already loves from a distance. What do you think is going to happen, if things get more serious between you two? He’s going to drag you _and_ her into the public eye, you’re aware of that, right? And if it all goes wrong and you break up, it affects everyone, especially May if she gets even more attached to him now. And I don’t even wanna imagine what’s going to be written in the papers and you even work for his best friend and-“

“Okay, mom, can you please hold on for a second? We’re far away from that point.” Not THAT far away though, it were basically all of Niall’s worries summed up. “We’re not even dating, we went on 3 dates and nothing else, I mean, we talk a lot on the phone and everything, but… we’re not like, together.”

“What does that matter right now? Eventually you will be, if it continues to go well. And apparently it is because I doubt you would have brought him here if you thought it wasn’t going anywhere.” Well… true, again. “Niall, do you even know what you are doing? How did this even happen?”

Niall gave his mother a very brief summary of how it had happened, kinda leaving out Liam’s personal struggles though, and also the fact that Liam had been at the party last night as well because he didn’t want his mother to jump to any false conclusions. Regarding the question of whether he knew what he was doing though… Niall tried to ignore that one. 

“I can’t believe this… this is all so out of nowhere and- has anybody seen you yet? Out together, I mean?” God, why did that even matter so much to her?!

“No. No one even knows besides you and dad.” Not even Liam’s parents or Louis, which would become problematic sooner or later anyways, but… one problem at a time. “Mom, it’s not like I’m going to go out tomorrow holding his hand in public and take May with me. We’re going to talk about how we’ll handle it first, I just wanted to introduce him to her as one of my friends first. And to you and dad.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious he’s not just a friend.” Liam would have been pleased to hear that, but he was probably either getting interrogated by Niall’s dad right now or being told about whatever it was that came to May’s mind. “And I don’t think you have a lot of time to talk about how you will handle this because May is going to tell absolutely everyone that her daddy knows Liam Payne.”

“She’s on spring break, we got enough time to talk to her about that and to think of something before she goes back to school. It just felt wrong doing it all behind by her back. Behind everyone’s back.” Niall added the last part so his mother would feel a bit included as well. After all, he could have told Liam to wait in the car and simply gotten May. “It’s not like… it’s not like I wanted this to happen. It wasn’t exactly planned.”

Now his mother’s expression became a bit softer, which was a relief but it also didn’t change what she clearly seemed to think of all this. “Do you really like him this much? Already?”

“I’ve known him for over a month now, we’ve been talking and seeing each other quite a bit, so… “ So, yeah, Niall really did like Liam this much, but saying it out loud was suddenly too scary for him. “I’m sorry I kept it a secret and didn’t warn you today, we kinda decided a bit spontaneously.”

“That’s what it seems like. Well, at least May is happy and you won’t have to ever worry about her not liking him. The only real problem could be if she gets jealous, of either of you. She’s not used to having to share you and she’s already all over Liam, so getting alone time...” She then broke off, everything out of her mouth sounding slightly overdramatic, but she also wasn’t wrong. “You really need to think this all through, Niall. And discuss it with Liam.”

“I know, mom.” Niall couldn’t help but roll his eyes this time because what else would they have done? “I think we should go back now, I don’t want Liam to get overwhelmed or something.”

“Your father was never the type to get involved too much, if anything, May is probably just getting started telling him about whatever she did yesterday and today and last week and a month ago.” Probably. “But let’s go back… I just wanted to make sure you’re being careful and that you know how dangerous this is and that you’re aware h-“

“I’m very aware, trust me.” Even more so now. “We’ll figure it out, mom, I wouldn’t just get myself into something and have it affect May in a bad way, maybe her whole childhood. She’s always going to be the priority.”

“I know that, Niall. I was just making sure you’re not making any impulsive decisions because you’ve fallen madly in love with Liam or something and aren’t thinking clearly.” Okay, why was this making Niall blushed?

“I’m not… madly in love, and even if I were then May would still be most important.” Obviously, who did his mother think he was? “I can still have a life though.”

“You can and you should, the situation is just… not the most convenient.” Short, it couldn’t have actually come any worse, could it? “But I trust you and… just please call me if anything goes wrong or… or warn me before you walk a red carpet or something.”

“Why would I w-“

“Just say yes, please.” His mother interrupted, so Niall did her the favor, a little surprised when she suddenly hugged him, but he returned it of course, not quite sure how to feel right now. 

When they came back to the living room, Niall’s father was indeed quiet, and so was Liam, except he was nodding along to whatever May was blabbering on about some TV show she had been watching this morning and Niall tried not to get too distracted by how cute the scene was. Thank god Liam was great with kids and trying so hard. 

Niall only watched for a second though before walking over, briefly making eye contact with Liam and throwing a quick smile at him to make sure he knew everything was good before reaching out to lift May off of his lap and into his own arms. 

“Daddy!” May squealed because she hadn’t gotten to finish her story, but Niall ignored it, kissing her cheek a few times and blowing raspberries against her skin until she was laughing a bit, not trying to get away from him anymore and just letting him hold her against his hip. 

“What were you telling Liam about, hm? You’ve not even told me yet what you did with granny and grandpa.” Niall was trying to bring the focus away from Liam a bit, looking at his parents in hopes of getting a bit of help. 

“Don’t you wanna tell your dad what you had for breakfast this morning?” To be fair, at least Niall’s mother was trying to make the whole situation more normal again, but she was also clearly saying it a little bit to tease Niall. She had fed her way too many of these chocolate things, hadn’t she?

May told him exactly that, sounding very excited about it, and she also ran in the other room to get a drawing she had made before, but Niall could tell that them being here, putting up a show for his daughter, wasn’t really helping anyone, especially not Liam. Plus, Niall, and everyone else probably, was highly aware of how much May was looking at Liam, not making a secret about how it was him she actually wanted to talk to the most and he was being his best self about it of course, but Niall decided they needed to leave. 

Even if his mother didn’t seem to be too excited about that.

“Alright, thanks for watching her. We’ll talk because of next weekend?” At this rate, Niall was going to forget about Easter altogether anyways. “I’ll call you.”

“Don’t forget again please. And if you need us to watch May when you work this week then just come over, alright, love? And… be careful.” Everyone heard her and Niall tried not to roll his eyes, but he still did it in the end before hugging his mother so she couldn’t complain. “It was nice to meet you, Liam.”

“You too. Sorry for just… bolting in here.” Liam shook both of Niall’s parents’ hands, sounding truly guilty even though it had all been Niall’s fault and idea anyways. 

“No worries.” Niall’s father told him quickly, probably afraid of what his wife would have said otherwise.

They said bye to May as well, who didn’t even seem to care though and who also didn’t ask or think twice before actually taking Liam’s hand while they were walking to the car, already busy blabbering on about something else. Niall still preferred this over the crying from before, and her being in shock, but the longer he really thought about it, the less did he know what kinda reaction he would have wanted her to have. Pretty sure there were about a hundred problems to come out of this that Niall wasn’t even aware of yet.

“Is Liam coming home with us?” May asked once Niall had put her in her car seat, suddenly realizing that they hadn’t even discussed this. “Pleeease?”

“Um… “ He started while putting the seat belt on his daughter, throwing a quick glance at Liam then, who didn’t look as if he didn’t want to, but then again, what would that have looked like anyways? He had told Niall before though that he had the entire day and also, Niall didn’t think it was the best idea to drive Liam home now or to wherever, with May in the backseat, so… “Maybe for a bit.”

“Yay! Then I can show him my room!” The little girl was super excited about that answer of course, and it did make Liam smile, so Niall tried to relax. Somehow he had gotten it into his head that the older man was surely annoyed by all this when it probably wasn’t even true at all. He had always told Niall they could do it however he wanted and it seemed he had truly meant that. 

“You can, if you try not to shout anymore, okay?” Niall scolded her gently before telling her to watch her fingers when he closed the car door to get in himself while Liam was doing the same. “Are you doing okay again, May? Because you were crying before?”

“Yes, but those were happy tears.” The little girl told Niall and it was kinda impossible for him to not have his heart melt a little. “No one of my friends is going to believe that.”

“Well… “ Niall started as he pulled out of his parking spot, kind of relieved that his parents weren’t waving them off at the front door today. His mother would surely call him in a few hours though, once all of it had really sunk in, and then Niall and Liam might have as well told Louis that they had snogged because it seemed to be the day to just get it all over with. “I don’t know if we should really let all your friends know just yet. You know, because… it’s a bit of a secret.”

“Why?” May sounded genuinely confused and Niall tried to come up with an answer, but his mind just basically went blank, so he was more than grateful for Liam taking over, turning around in his seat a bit so he could actually look at May while Niall was driving. Thank god he was here to do this with Niall.

“You know how there are sometimes a lot of pictures of me when I go somewhere?” Okay, maybe Liam wasn’t going to explain this in the best way, but it was still better than Niall’s silence.

“Yeah?” The little girl asked, of course still confused.

“Well, if everyone knows that I’m friends with your dad then they might try to take pictures of him as well and maybe even when he’s at work and that’s not something he’d really want to happen.” Now that Liam was saying that… Niall was a taxi driver, what if one day all this came out and then he’d have to drive around Liam’s fans if they got in his car?

“And all your classmates and friends would always wanna come over because they wanna meet Liam.” Niall threw in, knowing damn well that taking this route wasn’t really right, but he needed to make sure May didn’t even WANT to tell her friends about this. 

“Oh.” May made after a moment, clearly having to think it over, probably imaging how her friends were going to take Liam’s attention away from her. “But why is it a bad thing if people take pictures?”

“It’s not a bad thing, love, but a lot of people know Liam and he’s a famous singer and sometimes he has to keep a few things a secret, okay?” Niall didn’t know how else to explain it, he felt weird using these words in front of Liam but… he WAS a famous singer. “But we can talk about that again when you go back to school, you still have a lot of days off, right? Are you excited for Easter?”

“Yes, granny said she thinks the Easter bunny is going to hide a lot of things for me at her house this year.” Didn’t she always? “Is Liam coming too?”

“He’s going to be with his own family, bug.” Was he? Niall hadn’t really asked, but Liam didn’t correct him, so he was probably right. “He’s not going to come over all the time, yeah? It’s just like when one of my other friends come over once a while, for a few hours or so. I just took him with me today to pick you up so you could see him and so that we could tell you that we’re friends. Okay?”

“Okay.” May agreed though Niall wasn’t really sure if she really did understand what he was trying to tell her, she was only 6 after all. Plus… there would potentially come a time where Liam would spend a lot more time with them in case they did take things further, but… that was definitely a problem for Niall’s future self, not something he could solve right at this second. “But can we still play?”

“Of course we can.” This time it was Liam who answered immediately, which was good because it wasn’t a question Niall could have answered for him and he was just happy that the older man seemed to be so willing to stay over and spend time with her. “And I can’t wait to see your room as well.”

Obviously that was like the best thing ever for May to hear and she’d never have to know how many times Liam had actually already seen her room. Maybe that was good though, because had today been the first time, he might have not had his expression too much under control in a few minutes upon seeing his own face trapped across her walls. And on various other things in the room although Niall had been trying to keep it to a minimum over the years. Hadn’t worked too well.

“Come on!” May was jumping up and down once they had arrived back home and the girl had already taken off her shoes and jacket in the blink of an eye before Niall or Liam could have done the same. 

“Alright, alright, one second.” Liam was laughing, seemingly not bothered by it and maybe even having a little fun with it. Hopefully. 

“Sweetheart, why don’t you already go to your room and me and Liam will be there in a second, okay?” Niall suggested, wanting just a moment alone with the older man really and first he thought it would take more convincing, but May did give in and ran off to her room after pulling a bit of a face and Niall made sure to whisper when he turned to Liam. “You don’t have to stay if you have somewhere to be, y-“

“I have time, I told you, it’s all good, Niall. Are you okay?” Okay, why was Liam now asking Niall that question?

“Yeah, of course I am. You? I’m really sorry for what happened at my parents’ place, that I left you alone there and stuff. We should have maybe… planned this a little more and talked about it beforehand. It’s my fault.” It was.

“Niall.” Liam was also whispering, but he still sounded very serious when he reached out to touch the younger man’s arm, waiting until he was looking at him. “It’s not your fault. And nothing even happened that you’d have to be sorry for, I think it could have gone a lot worse. I mean, I don’t know what your mother said… “

“Nothing about you, just… she’s worried. And probably mad that I didn’t tell her beforehand, but… it’ll be fine. And May is more than just happy to have you here, so… “ But Niall hadn’t expected anything else once the first shock had passed. He was more worried about the future. “But as soon as you need to go, just let me know, okay? You really don’t have to think you have to stay.”

“I have the whole day, I don’t have anything at all planned. But when you want me to leave then just tell me and I’ll call myself a taxi.” Right now Niall kinda never wanted Liam to leave if he was being honest, but he didn’t say that of course. 

“You can stay as long as you want.” That made Liam smile, maybe because Niall had answered a bit too fast and he rubbed his thumb across the younger’s arm before letting go of him, leaving Niall’s skin tingling. 

He wanted to kiss Liam, but May could have looked around the corner at any given moment and honestly, Niall was kinda surprised that she hadn’t already. 

So they ended their whispered conversation and they didn’t touch anymore either as they walked over to May’s room, Niall first because Liam wasn’t supposed to know where it was after all. Not that May took any notice of that whatsoever.

“May, what are you- oh.” Niall stopped in the doorway, confused for a second before he mentally slapped himself. He had completely forgotten to put all those stuffed animals back on her bed this morning and the little girl was having some trouble putting them all back in place. “Sorry, I forgot to put your animals back, I was doing some laundry this morning.”

Throwing a quick look at Liam, who was just standing there grinning now, Niall quickly tore his eyes away from the older man to go and help his daughter, quicken up the process a little because she had completely stopped all movement. “Did you wash them?! They don’t like to get wet.”

“I know and no, I didn’t wash them, just your bedsheets.” Niall lied, because he surely hadn’t washed them and wasn’t planning on doing it anytime soon either. Life was just… stressful. “We do have to wash them again at some p-“

“But they don’t like it.” The little girl sounded worried now, clutching one of her many stuffed cats to her chest, Liam’s presence seemingly forgotten. 

“We’ll talk about that some other time, yeah? Didn’t you wanna show Liam your room?” Niall quickly changed the topic after having put the last animal back in its place, remaining sitting on his daughter’s bed though, looking around the room and trying to put himself in Liam’s position right now, trying to imagine what this must have felt like. 

To both their surprise though, May’s energy seemed to have lessened a bit over the past few minutes and though she opened her mouth to say something, she didn’t in the end, looking from Niall to Liam and then back again before suddenly coming over to Niall while Liam was still leaning in the doorway.

“What’s wrong?” Niall was confused, stroking her head as she came to stand between his legs, coming closer until the man lifted her on his lap. What had just happened in those few moments?

The girl didn’t answer immediately, it seemed she was trying to hide from Liam or something, curling as much into Niall as possible before whispering in his ear, probably loud enough for the older man to hear her as well. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Why is it embarrassing? You were just so excited to show him your room.” Well, maybe the thought of it had been a lot better than actually having Liam Payne in your room with his face draped all over the walls. Just like she hadn’t wanted to wear the shirt with his face on for the Meet and Greet that now felt so far in the past that Niall almost couldn’t remember it anymore. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, May. It’s all good, love, Liam really wanted to see your room.”

“I think your room is amazing, May.” Liam quickly threw in when Niall looked at him. “I love all the posters you have, I’m just trying to figure out if I still remember when they were all taken.”

Probably not, some of them were just random pictures really although Niall had made sure to stop May from putting every tiny picture of Liam she found on her walls. He was just ranting the place, he couldn’t allow her to completely ruin the walls even more than she already had in case they ever moved out. 

“Which one was your favorite again?” Niall asked her though he knew it of course, he just wanted to encourage her to talk to Liam again. 

“Umm, this one.” The girl just pointed to it, the one closest to her bed that Niall remembered putting up all too well, relieved it wasn’t a shirtless one again. “Because of the puppies.”

“Those puppies were really cute.” Liam told her, as if it had been yesterday or something. “Not as cute as my own dog though.”

“… is he home all alone now?” May sounded very concerned all of a sudden, not complaining anymore when Niall put her on the bed next to him instead. 

“No, no, don’t worry. He spends a lot of time with a friend of mine or my family when I’m not home a lot. So he’s got a lot of company.” Liam explained quickly, suddenly looking at Niall, who just hadn’t been able to stop that grin from spreading on his face when he thought back to that dog conversation he and Liam had had and the older man rolled his eyes at him. “Niall.”

“I didn’t even say anything.” Niall defended himself, trying to relax his face before May would start asking questions. “You know what you could show Liam? Those drawings you did.” 

“Hmm… okay.” May seemed more willing now to actually interact without hiding, but she still pulled on Niall’s hand to literally come across the room with her and look for the drawings. 

Of course Liam was super impressed by everything May showed him, and then also when she finally got over her little moment of shyness and continued to pull stuff out to talk about with him. He was handling it all exceptionally well so Niall wasn’t even saying much anymore, he was just there watching pretty much, trying not to let it affect him too much. Just because Liam was good with kids didn’t mean he had to go all brain dead and fall for him even more, a lot of people were good with kids and great kissers and overall genuine and kind… but he was the only one Niall knew.

“Will you play with me?” May asked after a while, after having made a hell of a mess with her toys and Niall had been sitting back, trying to resist the urge to tell her to put some of it back first. Today he’d let it pass, even if it meant he’d be up for hours tonight trying to get this cleaned up before bedtime. 

“Sure, what do you wanna play with?” Liam was also sitting on the floor with her now, his enthusiasm still not having worn off for some reason, he seemed to be just as energetic as he had been in the beginning. Well, Niall would have probably felt the same had this not been his every day life for years now. 

Of course May wanted to play with her dolls and animals as always, deciding who Liam was allowed to be and Niall was kinda a bit relieved he was being left out just this once. He actually took time to check his phone while Liam was playing with May in the background, suddenly remembering the party last night and of course there were a ton of messages on his phone that he had been ignoring for hours now. Not on purpose though.

 

_Louis 10:56  
Aaaand? How was the night? Did liam throw up all over the place? _

_Zayn 11:09  
Did I really spend last night talking to HARRY??????? I hate you for this_

_Louis 12:46  
I know youre probably busy falling in love with liam right now and that’s why youre ignoring me but im still kinda waiting for my thank you for fixing the thing between harry and zayn_

_Harry 12:59  
Whatever louis just texted you it’s a lie me and zayn were just smashed_

_Harry 13:05  
Just realized this sounded like we had a thing going on, we just talked & I don’t remember any of it. hows liam? I heard he wasn’t feeling well_

 

Amazing. There were also TWO missed calls from Louis for whatever reason and Niall didn’t feel like calling back right now because he had no idea what to say. If he was being honest right now then he didn’t actually care about whatever problems Harry and Zayn were having with each other, he was just glad to hear they had both sobered up and that nothing major had happened. And apparently Zayn had also made it home somehow, so whatever.

Niall stuck to sending each of them a short message, telling Louis that Liam hadn’t thrown up and that he definitely wasn’t thankful, Zayn that it was his own damn fault and Harry that Liam was doing good, as far as Niall knew. He didn’t have to make people anymore suspicious than they already were, right? Like, no one had to know Liam had already met Niall’s parents, that they had been snogging and that he was now lying on the floor in front of Niall playing with May.

Sure, they’d all find out eventually, but until then… it was nobody’s damn business.

Niall put his phone away again after typing out those brief replies, not waiting for any answers or for Louis to call again and instead simply settling on watching Liam and May before suddenly realizing how late it actually was.

“You’re staying for lunch, right?” Niall asked Liam after getting up, the older man not even realizing he was being addressed at first, sitting up a bit when Niall briefly touched his back though. “Liam?”

“Yeah, if- if that’s alright.” He must have known Niall wouldn’t have wanted him to leave, right? “I can help-“

“No, don’t worry. I think May would much rather have you playing with her. Right, bug?” Niall reached down to ruffle her hair gently, the little girl of course complaining because of the braids Niall’s mother had put into her hair this morning. “Are you two good here?”

“Yes!” May was the first to answer of course, sounding absolutely thrilled that she was getting Liam all to herself to play with and the older man agreed as well, returning Niall’s smile and it looked really genuine, so Niall decided not to worry. If Liam had hated it here, he would have somehow tried to get out of this situation, right? 

The thing was, this situation was new for all of them. Well, maybe not for May because Niall had had friends over for lunch and they had been playing with May as well while he had cooked, but still, this was Liam Payne and not just someone. For Niall it was like… a glimpse of what it could have been like, had he not been a single parent for so many years. 

And if he imagined always having someone there, someone he could rely on, someone who helped with May but also someone who wasn’t just… a friend, he suddenly didn’t know anymore how he had spent all these years not once craving something like this.

Then again, Niall was also aware that it was way too soon to actually think things like that and that just because today was going more than great didn’t mean it would stay like this forever. Especially considering Liam’s lifestyle, it was more likely that today was the exception, that he was just having a day off and trying hard because they were at the very beginning of whatever this was.

Niall was really lost in thoughts while preparing lunch, not really trying too hard and opting for making something simple so he wouldn’t have to pay too much attention. When he felt a hand on his back though, he flinched quite terribly, not even having heard any footsteps.

“Oops, sorry.” Liam apologized immediately, his hand slipping and Niall needed a moment, waiting for his heart to calm down again. “Did you burn yourself? I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, I’m fine, it’s okay.” Niall just hadn’t heard him coming in, but he turned around now, half expecting May to be there as well. “Were you released from your duties?”

“No, actually, we’re playing hide and seek now.” Right. One second…

“Liam, can you please go looking for her?!” The younger man blurted out, immediately concerned as to why Liam was now leaning against the counter next to him, completely calm, no intention of looking for anybody anytime soon.

“She’s in the bathroom, she said I gotta wait until she’s done and then I have to count until 100. Do you think I would just leave her in her hiding spot?” He laughed, but the question had also sounded a little serious and Niall relaxed.

“No. I don’t know, sorry, I just… anyways. Are you okay? Are you bored? I can make an excuse for you, you don’t have to play with her all day long.” Liam hadn’t been here for too long, but Niall knew how exhausting it could get after a while.

“I don’t mind it, it’s fun. You’ve raised a really sweet kid.” When he said it, it didn’t sound as if he just wanted to make Niall happy or smile, but as if he truly meant it and of course that touched Niall even more. Or maybe it were those damn onions.

“Thank you… you already know she adores you as well, so…” Niall cleared his throat a little to get rid of that lump, stirring in the pan, not knowing what to say right now. He didn’t want all of this to go so perfect, so easy, he knew none of this was going to be easy. “Do you wanna… taste test?”

“Okay.” Liam agreed immediately, waiting for Niall to put a noodle on a fork, but right when he turned to look at the older man, to hand him the fork, Liam instead leaned forward and kissed him right on the lips, his hand coming to a rest on Niall’s hip.

It was unexpected, and a little funny as well, but Niall had no time to laugh because he immediately kissed back without thinking, almost wanting to whine when the older man leaned back again, a grin on his face. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

“You’re an idiot.” Niall told him with a laugh, but he was feeling all giddy and stupidly excited inside, like a little child or something. “Was that your way of avoiding my cooking?”

Instead of an answer, Liam simply rolled his eyes at that, taking the fork out of Niall’s hand to actually taste test the food this time and Niall could tell he regretted not blowing on it first, but he was doing a very good job at overplaying it. At first. “Tastes great, but I already knew it would.”

“You didn’t taste anything, did you?” The younger man was biting his lip to avoid grinning, watching the internal struggle Liam was clearly having before he shook his head. “Do you need some water?”

“Um, yeah, that’d be great, thanks, my tongue is kinda… numb.” He emptied the glass Niall had gotten him in about one second, still looking a bit in pain and Niall wished he could have helped him in some other way, but then May was done in the bathroom on the other side of the flat. 

“You have to count until 100!” She told Liam, or yelled at him more like, and Niall refrained from scolding her just for today.

“Okay, I will!” Liam answered, taking another glass of water from the younger man. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t forget to count though.” May couldn’t count until 100, but Liam didn’t have to know that, did he? “How’s your tongue?”

“Burned. Look.” Liam told him before actually showing it to Niall and the younger man couldn’t help but laugh even though his tongue did look a little too red. “Stop laughing, that’s not funny. It’s your fault anyways.”

“ _My_ fault? You just shoved that fork in your mouth, I couldn’t even warn you.” They were just joking of course and Niall felt this buzzing excitement in the pit of his stomach about all of it, almost forgetting that the food was on the stove right next to him. “Do you wanna have an ice cube?”

“No, thanks. I think I’m running out of time actually, I better go look for her.” The flat was so small and May always chose the same hiding spots because she had no options, so it’s not like it really mattered if 100 seconds had passed or not. “You got any tips for me?”

“Just a general warning, she’s not the best loser.” Although she would have probably not shown it in front of Liam.

“Alright, thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. See you in a bit when it’s my turn.” Liam told him, smiling that cheeky smile he sometimes had before kissing Niall’s cheek as if it was the most normal thing in the entire world before walking out of the kitchen. “I’m coming, I hope you’ve got a good hiding spot!”

All Niall could do was stare after him for a moment, with his skin tingling and his stomach full of butterflies and… fuck, couldn’t every day be like this from now on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :)
> 
> a little late, sorry! i hope you all enjoyed this chapter, im super excited things are moving along :D thank you for the feedback on the last one and all the kudos <3
> 
> hope you all have a great week!!


	11. Chapter 11

Niall’s following week was kinda crazy, because May wasn’t in school, so he had to bring her along to work a lot or get his parents and her other grandparents to babysit and then pick her up again and the whole coordination was a little bit intense, but he somehow managed. Sadly, both Harry and Zayn weren’t options during that week because Niall just KNEW that May would have accidentally mentioned Liam to them, so he basically saw none of them and also not Louis because there were no bookings in the studio. 

What had happened over the weekend with Liam kinda helped in other ways though, because just thinking about him got Niall in a better mood at work and though in the beginning he was trying to fight it a little bit, he very quickly got over that and just let it happen. Why couldn’t he be happy? His mother managed to calm down about it as well and May was absolutely thrilled when Liam came over two more times, even if it was slightly hard to get her to go to bed while he was still there. Niall really appreciated that time he got to spend alone with Liam as well though.

After Easter it was Liam who was kinda busy and their schedules weren’t exactly working out and Niall got a glimpse of what things would probably look like in the future after not seeing the older man in person for 5 days. It felt like it had been a lot longer though, even though they were always texting and talking on the phone, Niall couldn’t help but miss him. They hadn’t put a label on what they were, but Niall could have definitely gone for some cuddles tonight.

“When can I tell my friends about Liam?” May had asked this question a lot since school had started again a few days ago and Niall was honestly surprised that she still hadn’t told anyone. He would have known, there was NO way no parent would have called him had his daughter started talking at school.

“I don’t know, love, not yet, okay?” Niall leaned down to kiss her forehead, pulling her blanket up higher, not knowing what to tell her about this. Chances were it’d be months until they would think about stuff like actually going out in public together. May had never even seen them kissing or touching except for a quick hug. “Are you warm enough?”

“Yes.” The little girl told him, looking a bit irritated though. “I’m not even tired.”

“I’m sure you’ll become tired if you close your eyes for a bit.” Usually that worked, once she stopped fighting it, but Niall was aware she was just saying this tonight because she was upset about not being able to brag that Liam Payne was now her personal play buddy. He really was, Niall always made sure to tell Liam he didn’t have to ALWAYS say yes to her, but it seemed he genuinely didn’t mind it. Of course, that only made Niall fall for him even more. As if he hadn’t had enough reasons, right?

“I don’t think so.” May told him, keeping her eyes open of course and Niall suppressed a sigh as he leaned down on his elbow, mentally preparing himself for spending the next half an hour on her bed. “Can I stay home from school tomorrow?”

“No?” Niall was surprised, though she hadn’t asked this question the first time. “Why don’t you wanna go to school tomorrow? It’s already Friday.”

“Because then I could stay up longer.” Right, made sense. Even though it was only an hour, but an hour was like eternity to May anyways. 

“Are you really not tired? Not even a little tiny bit?” To be fair, this was maybe partly Niall’s fault because he had let her sleep this afternoon while they had been at the studio with Louis, but he had very much preferred this over his daughter mentioning Liam by accident.

And of course, Louis hadn’t held back with the questions, but luckily that had ceased once Niall had pretended he was still upset because of the thing with Zayn just to switch the topic. He had literally forgotten about the whole party because the next day had been so much more eventful and meaningful to him. But Louis didn’t have to know that, did he? Not yet. 

“We can read some more, but only for 10 minutes.” Niall told his daughter when she shook her head, looking very serious while doing so and maybe she genuinely wasn’t tired, but she still needed to sleep soon or she’d be cranky all day tomorrow. 

“I don’t wanna read.” May complained, playing with her stuffed elephant that she had under her arm, moving around underneath the blanket to show Niall how much she _really_ didn’t wanna sleep right now. Great, and it was already past her bedtime anyways. “I’m hungry.”

“We only just ate an hour ago.” The man reminded her, well aware that it wasn’t true anyways, she was just trying to distract him to let her stay up. “The sooner you sleep the sooner you get to eat breakfast.”

“I don’t like breakfast.” The little girl said though it was literally just a blatant lie and Niall tried not to grin because he didn’t wanna encourage her. “I wanna watch a movie.”

“We’re not watching a movie now, love, it’s really late. Tell you what, I’ll go brush my teeth and you try to fall asleep in the meantime and if you really can’t when I come back then we can read some more.” What else would have made her tired? Surely not Niall giving her his phone to watch videos, right? At least she wasn’t asking to see stuff about Liam anymore, or his Instagram or something, so that was actually quite refreshing. Then again, she was getting to see AND play with him in real life, what would she have still needed to see pictures of him for?

“I wanna come with you to the bathroom.” Now she was just trying to make it difficult for Niall, clutching to his arm as he pulled it back, about to get up. “I need to brush my teeth again as well.”

“I don’t think you do, May. C’mon, try and sleep, yeah? I’ll come check on you in a few minutes.” Niall promised, gently trying to unwrap her fingers from around his arm before leaning over her once more to pepper her face with kisses, definitely making her laugh against her will. “The sooner you sleep, the sooner it’s going to be the weekend.”

“Is Liam coming on the weekend?” Hearing her say his name gave Niall a little pinch, but he didn’t let it show.

“Maybe.” Niall didn’t wanna make any false promises, but he definitely wanted Liam to come and at least that was enough to make May smile a little bit. “I’m sure he’d be more willing to come if you went to sleep now, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too.” She told him, and right when Niall had gotten up, of course she had to add the second part as well. “I don’t think I can sleep.”

“Let’s talk about that again in a few minutes, okay? Close your eyes.” He ordered her gently, waiting until she had actually done it with an annoyed sigh and he allowed himself to smile just because she couldn’t see him anymore now. “Sweet dreams, bug.”

Honestly, Niall wasn’t really sure if she’d really fall asleep while he was gone, so of course he took some extra time after brushing his teeth and having a shower, putting some stuff away in the kitchen and checking all the windows and the front door, and by the time he walked back into his daughter’s room, 20 or more minutes had passed and sure enough, she was deep asleep. Thank god.

Niall made sure to close her door as quietly as possible so he wouldn’t wake her on accident before deciding that maybe, he should have tried to get an early night as well. Only, that didn’t quite work out so well.

Zayn was texting Niall about some problem he seemed to have making a test for his students that needed to be done tomorrow at 9 in the morning and he hadn’t even started yet and Niall tried his best to help but stopped answering after a while when it was truly getting ridiculous. First, he had done countless tests, and second, hadn’t he studied how to do all this at university?!

Despite being a bad friend, Niall actually and truly couldn’t sleep, unlike his daughter. Like, he tried really hard, but it just wasn’t working for some reason, even after he had rearranged his entire closet and done some organizing, watched pointless things on his phone and gone back to helping Zayn after all because he hadn’t made any progress in those few hours.

So then Niall just gave up and did the one thing he had told himself he wouldn’t tonight, but fuck it.

 

_To Liam 23:05  
How’s the event going?_

 

Liam had been invited somewhere, wearing a suit and looking really good probably, but Niall had told himself he couldn’t follow it online or look at videos or whatever because that would have gone too far. He wanted them to be as normal as they somehow could be despite the circumstances.

Niall didn’t even really expect Liam to answer any time soon, but he was still staring at his phone like a bloody idiot for a few minutes, his heart beating embarrassingly fast when Liam answered.

 

_Liam 23:10  
Not that great, I don’t really know anyone there. Shouldn’t you be asleep?_

 

Literally how could he NOT know anyone there? Didn’t he know everyone? 

 

_To Liam 23:11  
When are you leaving? And I cant sleep somehow, ive tried for like 3 hours._

 

Probably not for that long, but whatever. Niall also didn’t actually have to do anything tomorrow morning except wake May and drive her to school. Like, sure, he could have answered Emails but he could have also gone back to sleep after dropping her off, and… that sounded a lot better right now. 

Not as good as Liam’s _joke_ though.

 

_Liam 23:11  
I could come over haha_

 

For a moment, Niall felt himself getting disappointed because honestly… he couldn’t have thought of anything better right now. But he still texted back playing along because whatever, not really considering that maybe Liam had been serious. Or maybe… maybe he was just trying to see whether he would actually do it.

 

_To Liam 23:12  
Ok_

 

Niall sent it without thinking and even though it was a horrible idea because it was in the middle of the night and he had to get up in the morning and May was right there, asleep, and surely Liam would just laugh it off and-

 

_Liam 23:12  
Seriously? Im leaving right now_

 

Obviously that caused Niall to sit up straight in the matter of a second, almost texting Liam that he had been joking, that May was asleep, that it would probably almost be midnight by the time Liam got here, but instead, he found himself typing something completely different.

 

_To Liam 23:12  
Seriously. Text me when youre downstairs & don’t ring the bell please_

 

God, wasn’t Niall pathetic?

 

_Liam 23:12  
Ok :) ♥_

 

Or maybe they both were. But Niall definitely a whole lot more for literally smiling at his phone for 5 minutes after seeing Liam’s last text. He was only too well aware that they were behaving like teenagers or something, planning to sneak into each other’s rooms or whatever, but he literally couldn’t have made himself care even if he had tried.

God damn it, he hadn’t seen Liam in 5 days, he was allowed to miss him, right? He was allowed to have him come over in the middle of a Thursday night, they were both adults for crying out loud. Also… did that mean Liam was coming over in his suit? Niall certainly wouldn’t be complaining about that in any way, he just realized they hadn’t even discussed if Liam would be spending the night or… well, what else was he gonna do?

Niall felt even more awake now waiting for Liam to arrive, even though he knew it might have taken a while because god only knew where that event had been. He had of course asked Liam questions about it, but he also really wasn’t the most informed person on those topics and sometimes Liam had to do things for his job that were a little hard for Niall to process because he saw the older man as a normal person most of the time, so then whenever he was faced with the fact that he was a celebrity, it kinda felt like a slap in the face. Not in a bad way just… in a surprising way.

Because he would have to open the door anyways, Niall got out of bed, roaming around the flat for a bit, pretending to be putting things away when in reality, he was just trying to pass time and not stare at his phone the entire time. Kinda hard, but somehow he managed until Liam _finally_ texted him that he was downstairs and Niall let him into the building, half opening the front door. 

Now he felt even more like a teenager, with his heart beating as fast as ever. 

“Hi.” Liam had indeed shown up in his suit, he also looked kinda tired and a bit worn out, but there was a smile on his face when he entered the flat, closing the door extra quietly and Niall… well, he was suddenly a bit overwhelmed.

“Hi.” The younger man brought out, in something like a whisper, before pretty much throwing his arms around Liam with no warning and kissing him because he hadn’t gotten to do that in 5 days and even then it had only been brief because of May. Chances of her coming out of her room were still there, but Niall simply didn’t care right now.

“Sorry, I’m a bit… sweaty.” The older man let out a nervous laugh when they pulled apart for a moment, as if he thought Niall honestly cared. 

“Whatever.” Niall told him before shutting him up by kissing him some more, holding on a bit tighter when Liam did the same, deepening the kiss when he felt Liam’s back hitting the door. Fuck, Niall had almost forgotten how good of a kisser Liam was, how soft his lips were and how incredible he tasted, so familiar somehow and yet so bloody addicting that Niall would have rather collapsed than broken the kiss for some air. They kinda didn’t have a choice though. 

“I didn’t know you were missing this much.” Liam joked quietly, but it sounded rather happy and Niall felt his stomach twisting a bit. 

“Why wouldn’t I be missing you?” Maybe because he hadn’t explicitly told Liam, but Niall wasn’t really the kinda person to do things like that, especially because they hadn’t been able to change anything about their schedules after all. 

“I don’t know… but I missed you too.” The older man whispered against Niall’s lips before kissing him again and Niall felt himself smiling, curling his fingers into the older’s suit collar. 

They kissed for a bit longer, probably way longer than it felt like, only pulling apart when Liam suddenly had to yawn and Niall saw his chance. “Are you staying the night?”

“If that’s okay.” Liam answered immediately, relief spreading through Niall though he wasn’t sure what exactly he had expected because it was surely after midnight by now. 

“Do you want to shower? I’ll give you some clothes to sleep in.” Because they were in the hallway, they were whispering and Niall wasn’t really thinking when he slowly let go of Liam’s clothes to intertwine their fingers, only throwing a brief smile at the older man before softly pulling him with him to his bedroom.

“I don’t wanna accidentally wake May though.” Liam whispered back, sounding concerned, which Niall really appreciated.

“You won’t, she won’t hear the shower and she’s been asleep for hours. You don’t have to though, I just thought because you said you’re sweaty or something.” Nothing Niall had taken any notice of, but he could imagine Liam feeling a bit gross after wearing this suit for hours and going out in it. 

“Yeah, um… if it’s really okay.” The older man decided after they had reached Niall’s bedroom and the younger man suddenly realized that they had never really been in here together, only briefly when he had given Liam a tour. 

“Sure. Wait… I gotta find something you can sleep in.” He was taller than Niall, but only a little bit, and he was definitely broader than him because he worked out, so Niall was certain his sweatpants would probably fit Liam, but he wasn’t quite sure about the shirt. Whatever, did he really need one? “Here, I hope they fit. I’ll show you everything in the bathroom.”

Niall quickly got him a spare towel as well before telling him to just use whatever products he wanted in the shower, a little surprised that Liam stopped him for another kiss before Niall left the bathroom with a few too many butterflies going crazy in his stomach. Was he really letting Liam spontaneously sleep in his bed for the first time? It seemed quite like it.

Waiting for the older man to return was kind of torture, because Niall could hear the water and he couldn’t help letting his mind wander just a little bit. Surely everyone would have in his position though, and the thing was, he kinda already knew what Liam looked like wearing barely anything, so it was like… a little too easy almost.

“So… the shirt looks kinda… stupid on me.” Liam returned shirtless, something Niall shouldn’t have been so surprised by because he had already kinda guessed it before, but he still struggled to keep a straight facial expression somehow. “Thank you though, I left the towel in the bathroom.”

“Okay, no worries. Do you wanna try another one?” Niall offered after getting up off his bed, making sure to close his bedroom door quietly so they wouldn’t have to whisper anymore. 

“No, I’m good like this. Unless you-“

“I really don’t mind.” The younger man reassured him, a little too quickly, so he made sure to switch the topic immediately. “Wait, give me your clothes, they’re gonna get all messed up.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Liam told him while watching Niall fold his clothes a bit before putting them on his chair, shrugging. It was a suit though and a button up and Liam had been about to throw them on the chair without a second thought.

“I can’t sleep otherwise, it’s just the dad in me.” Niall joked, throwing his own shirt back into his closet without too much care though. “It’s fine if you get on the bed, you know, you don’t have to stand around like that.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Liam sounded slightly unsure, but he did eventually sit on the side of the bed that looked a bit less messed up and Niall only now realized how small his bed actually was if the second person sleeping in it wasn’t a little girl. Hopefully she wouldn’t come in here tonight because that would have just been typical somehow. “Have you gotten tired in the meantime?”

“Not really.” The younger man admitted, because actually, he felt even more awake now than ever. “I’ve never seen your tattoos like that.”

“Wh- oh, yeah. True.” Liam seemed surprised, but then he moved in a more comfortable position on the bed when Niall did the same, moving a little closer but just for the purpose of looking at Liam’s tattooed arms. Obviously. “I would’ve thought you’ve seen them plenty of times on pictures.”

“On your Instagram you mean?” Niall laughed, seeing the older’s cheeks turning a bit pinkish and it took everything he had in him to not lean over and kiss it. “I mean, yeah, but never in real life, and I kinda forgot how high up they go as well. Can I-“

“Sure.” Liam told him without even waiting for him to finish, letting Niall take his hand and turn it around however he pleased. Actually, it seemed he was quite happy about the younger’s interest. Did he notice how desperately Niall was trying not to stare at his exposed abs instead? Probably not. “My mother cried over every single one of them.”

“Because she hates them so much? But they suit you.” They really did, but then again…

“You’ve never seen me without though.” True, when May had become a fan, he had already had them. Or most of them. 

“I’ve seen the occasional picture I think, but it looked like photoshop or something. I like them on you, I just don’t understand these two.” Niall told him, touching the L above Liam’s thumb and nodding to his other hand. 

“My initia-“

“I know they’re your initials.” The younger man playfully rolled his eyes, laughing over Liam’s somewhat apologetic face. “I’m just wondering… why?”

“I don’t know. Why not? I kinda regretted them at first but now I really don’t care anymore. I’ve just got so many by now, I don’t think all of them could have a special meaning, I just like them.” He shrugged, but Niall felt his eyes on his face as he was slowly tracing the tattoo on the back of Liam’s hand, and then up his arm, turning it around a bit to get a better look. “Do you have one?”

“What do you think?” Niall asked jokingly, not letting himself be distracted though, he was really interested somehow, because obviously he had never gotten to see them up close like this. Or at least not without Liam’s shirt covering a part. “I could never commit to one, I’d start hating it after a while. Plus, I’d be terrified that one day May will turn 18 and then she goes running off getting tattooed as well and I wouldn’t even be able to get mad because I’d have one as well. I mean… not that she can’t get a tattoo one day, I just mean I’d rather she thinks about it for a bit first.”

“That was my mother’s opinion as well.” It probably was every parents’ opinion. Or most, at least. 

“And then you ran off at 18 and got one anyways?” Niall had no idea when exactly Liam had gotten them, that was way too far in the past for him.

“Not just one.” The older man laughed, showing Niall the first ones he had gotten and somehow, Niall truly got why his mother had been crying over them. Although, they had probably looked a lot more obvious when they hadn’t been surrounded by others yet. “I guess it all got to my head a little when I was younger… like, being successful or whatever.”

“And now?” Niall asked absently, still staring at Liam’s inked skin, only now realizing how close they were and that he was literally touching the other man all over while they were in his bed and that Liam’s arms were full of goosebumps. 

“Now I don’t know.” Liam admitted after a moment of silence and Niall lifted his head so they could look at each other, still kinda holding Liam’s arm. “I hope no one thinks it’s still gotten to my head.”

“I don’t think so, but I haven’t known you before. If I didn’t regularly see your face on May’s clothes or her walls I’d forgotten you’re famous by now so I’d say you’re doing fairly well.” But also, Niall was trying really hard to avoid anything online because it would’ve just been weird and he knew too much about Liam anyways. “How was that event by the way? I forgot to ask… and how come you didn’t know anyone?”

“It was boring. And I didn’t know anyone because it was like… I don’t know. Just some fashion thing or whatever, I left like 3 hours before everyone else probably.” Should Niall have felt honored that Liam had left to be with him? But he had been bored either ways so there was that. 

“Why’d you even go then?” Now Niall let go of him because it was getting a bit weird and he had seen all the tattoos after all but he didn’t back away because the size of his bed didn’t really allow it. 

“Promo for the tour and the album.” Was all Liam explained, not sounding too excited about it though and he had to yawn again so Niall decided to let it drop. “How was your day?”

“Louis was interrogating me and May was cranky and didn’t wanna go to sleep, but other than that it was alright… I have to drive May to school tomorrow morning by the way, but I don’t have anywhere to be until later.” No idea what Niall was trying to tell Liam with that because he had probably already known that he would have to drive his daughter, but… 

“When do you usually wake her? I can make sure to leave before that, I don’t wanna wind her up before school.” Was he seriously offering to get up even earlier? 

“At 8 usually. But you don’t have to leave unless you have somewhere to be.” Short, Niall didn’t want him to leave, they hadn’t seen each other in a while and those few minutes just now weren’t enough for him because he was starting to become greedy. 

“Hmm… I can leave before you wake her and go to the gym and come back when you dropped her off.” Luckily it wasn’t only Niall who was getting desperate. “Or… “

“Or?” The younger man kept pushing, already way too excited though that Liam wanted to spend more time with him as well. Although that should have kinda been a given by now, right?

“Or you come over to mine afterwards and we’ll order breakfast.” Wait…

“Who _orders_ breakfast?” Was all Niall could ask, kinda not processing the first information because… what the hell? Who ordered anything besides maybe dinner?

“Me?” Liam let out a laugh, seemingly amused by Niall’s surprised and confused face and it wasn’t really getting any better when the older man suddenly leaned over to peck his lips. “Now we have to do it if you’ve never done it before. Obviously. And you’ve never seen my place either.”

“Yeah… there was a reason for that.” Namely that Niall didn’t wanna feel poor because right now he was pretty good at ignoring how much below Liam’s standard his own flat was. “But… okay. We can do that.”

“Are you sure?” The older man seemed worried after Niall’s initial reaction so Niall made sure to smile, briefly kissing Liam as well. 

“I’m sure.” He wasn’t really, but…

“So it’s a date.” Liam blurted out, but he didn’t take it back so Niall nodded, his stomach suddenly feeling a lot lighter. Pretty sure they didn’t have to be afraid to call anything a date anymore seeing as they were way past that stage of not knowing whether they liked each other or not, but Liam was still so bloody cute when he said it. 

“It’s a date.” Niall confirmed, laughing over the older man’s face for a moment before leaning in again to kiss him some more.

This time, Liam’s hand came up to cup the back of Niall’s head, keeping him close maybe so he wouldn’t pull back again and the younger man surely didn’t mind. The position they were in didn’t quite work so well, so Niall immediately lied down when he felt Liam moving as well, his heart bumping quite a bit though when the older man put his weight on top of him while his tongue slipped into Niall’s mouth. Okay, this was definitely a bit new.

It felt really good though, to be able to do this while knowing no one was going to interrupt them anytime soon and though they should have probably tried to sleep, it was really the very last thing on Niall’s mind right now.

He wrapped his arms around Liam’s neck without thinking, somehow wanting him even closer though that was hardly possible at this point. Liam’s beard was undoubtedly leaving sore spots on Niall’s skin, but it felt strangely good somehow, just like everything else. The way Liam tasted, his tongue against Niall’s and his weight on top of him, pressing him into the mattress though he was clearly keeping some of it on his elbows so he wouldn’t crush Niall. Not that he would have, but they might have run out of air even more quickly.

For a while it was just that, them making out on Niall’s bed, not even particularly desperately or heatedly, but when Liam’s hand slipped underneath the younger’s shirt, Niall had to break the kiss, without even thinking, grabbing a hold of Liam’s wrist. “Wait… “

“Sorry, I wasn’t- sorry.” Liam was quick to apologize, clearly trying to catch some air, his lips swollen and his cheeks red as he quickly pulled back his hand. “I was getting a bit, um… carried away. I shouldn’t have-“

“It’s alright.” Niall told him, because it really was, it wasn’t Liam’s hand he had minded underneath his shirt, just what might have come afterwards. “I just… I feel like we should wait until we take this, like, further.”

“Yeah, definitely, I- sorry.” Now he was clearly embarrassed, something Niall definitely hadn’t wanted to achieve because he trusted Liam after all, he knew he wouldn’t have just done something, he had simply been wanting to make sure they were on the same page with this. “I wasn’t, like… I wasn’t expecting us to… you know.”

“You don’t need to keep on apologizing, you didn’t even do anything. I just wanted to make sure we both know where we stand with this.” No idea where Liam really stood, Niall was kinda pretty convinced that the older man would have immediately agreed had he wanted to sleep with him, but he also didn’t wanna make assumptions. Like, not that it would have been a bad thing at all, it’s just… Niall wasn’t like that. Not anymore. “Stop making that face, it’s all good.”

“What face? I’m not doing anything.” Liam defended himself when Niall laughed, reaching out to touch the older’s face, try and get rid of that worried expression. “I just feel bad, I didn’t mean to-“

“Liam. Nothing even happened, if you want you can put your hand all the way up my shirt, I just wanted to tell you that I’m not quite ready to have sex with you.” Now Niall had put it into words, but apparently, that only made things worse for Liam in terms of embarrassment.

“Okay.” Was all he said, still remaining on top of Niall and allowing the younger man to stroke his face, but his internal struggle was also quite apparent. “Me neither. I mean… I wasn’t going to- I didn’t think we would- anyways. Whatever, I’m an idiot.”

“Stop, you’re not. And you don’t have to be embarrassed or keep on apologizing, it’s ruining the mood.” Niall joked, but he should have known that that would only make Liam feel even weirder. “I’ll just shut my mouth from now on.”

“No, it’s me, not you. Wait… that sounded strange. I just meant… actually, I forgot what I was going to say.” He was a mess now, which was entirely Niall’s fault and it took everything in the younger man to not laugh, but not because he was making fun of Liam, rather because he was so bloody cute. 

“Just kiss me again.” Niall decided to release him from his struggle of having to find words, brushing his thumb over the older’s cheekbone before letting his hand slip to the back of his head in order to pull him closer once more and Liam seemed only too happy to oblige.

He didn’t put his hand back underneath Niall’s shirt and Niall kinda hoped that he hadn’t completely scared Liam away now, that he’d be terrified of making any kind of move on Niall from now on, but when he started kissing down the younger’s neck a while later, it didn’t quite seem that way. Liam was sensible enough to not actually put a mark on Niall’s skin though the younger man would have probably even let him right now because his brain was kinda shut off whenever they were kissing like that.

By the time they finally managed to part, it was probably after 1 in the morning, but Niall refrained from checking the clock when he walked to the bathroom one last time, kinda loving the sight of Liam half asleep in his bed upon returning. He looked really cozy there and sleepy and somehow as if he belonged there and there was nothing Niall wanted more right now than to go to sleep cuddling him. 

“I never realized how small my bed actually is.” Niall admitted once he had gotten underneath the blanket as well, reaching over to turn off his lamp on the bedside table, plunging them into darkness.

“Hmm, it’s not actually that small… it’d be bigger if you come here.” Liam told him, his voice a bit slower and more quiet than usually, already heavy with sleep, but Niall still didn’t have to be told twice.

They had never done any of this before, plus it was dark in the room so Niall was probably slightly uncoordinated cuddling up against the older man, but it worked out eventually and he was pretty sure he had never felt more comfortable in his own bed than with Liam’s arms wrapped around him and his head in the crook of the older’s shoulder. Damn, he smelled so good. A little like Niall’s own shower gel, but that was beside the point.

“Are you even tired enough to sleep?” Pretty sure Liam would have hated Niall right now for saying no, but luckily, he wouldn’t have to.

“Yeah… it’s a good thing you came, I would’ve probably been lying awake the whole night otherwise.” Slightly exaggerated, but… 

“’s that the only reason you wanted me to come?” Liam joked, his arm tightening around Niall when the younger man wrapped his around Liam’s bare stomach, the skin on skin contact kinda getting him more excited than it should have. 

“Yeah.” Niall joked, but he couldn’t hold back a quiet laugh of course, so hopefully Liam knew that he wasn’t being serious.

“Shut up… “ The older man mumbled somewhere into Niall’s hair, warming his scalp whenever he breathed out. And then, out of nowhere, he completely switched the topic. “Does it bother you that… that I’ve kinda… had a thing with a few people right before we met?” 

That was a question Niall certainly hadn’t expected and also one that he couldn’t answer immediately because he had never really thought about that in depth. Then again, maybe that WAS his answer. “No. I mean… that has nothing to do with me after all. And you didn’t keep on doing that since we started going on dates… right?”

“No, of course not, I told you.” Liam sounded a bit more awake now, a little panicked almost. “Did you think I was?”

“No, if I had I wouldn’t have ever gone out with you… and I definitely wouldn’t have kissed you.” He would have never let himself get involved with Liam like that if he had suspected it was just a fling for the older man, or maybe even a one night stand. Not that they would have ever had one because Niall wouldn’t have gone along with it obviously. “Those people you were with… they didn’t mean anything to you anyways, did they? I mean, you just did it to take your mind off?”

“Yeah… and no, they didn’t mean anything, it was never like… like it’s now, with you.” He said it slowly, as if he wasn’t sure how to exactly, or maybe he was afraid he’d say too much and Niall felt him nervously playing with the sleeve of his own shirt, his fingers brushing against the younger’s skin. 

“What’s it like?” Niall decided to be mean and keep on pushing, it’s just… he REALLY wanted to hear Liam say it somehow, like… he just wanted to know.

“Well… “ Liam started, clearing his throat and moving underneath Niall and the younger man had to bite back a smile. God, Liam was so cute, it shouldn’t have been allowed. “You know, like… like I could see us, like… being together. I think… it could work.”

This hadn’t been a secret of course, otherwise they wouldn’t have continued doing what they did, but hearing Liam say it out loud still made Niall think about a ton of other things they had never really talked about before and probably should have if they really wanted to one day make this official. “I think it could work as well… does it bother you that I have a child?”

“Um, what? Why would that bother me?” The random change of topic seemed to confuse Liam, although it wasn’t so random to Niall because it was actually a question he would have had to ask much earlier with anybody else.

“Because of obvious reasons? It would bother a lot of people, especially at our age… it _has_ bothered people before.” But then again, Niall had been even younger then, but he was still young to have a 6-year-old anyways. And Liam was only one year older than him as well. 

“It doesn’t bother me though. I knew from the beginning that you have a child, it’s kinda how we met.” Liam reminded him, a little jokingly but also sounding quite genuine. 

“I know, I just thought I’ve never actually asked you that. And a lot of other things… we’re kinda doing this all a bit backwards.” Or with closed eyes more like, because they WERE talking about things and doing it all at a reasonable pace, but the other stuff that would have been kinda a lot more important long term, they were both just ignoring that. Which wasn’t like Niall at all, but just for once, he wanted to actually enjoy something right in the moment and not worry ahead. 

“How? If we’d done it backwards we’d probably both be naked right now.” The older man laughed, holding Niall so tightly that he didn’t lift his head, but he definitely would have otherwise as he let out a playful huff.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” He really couldn’t somehow, especially considering the time and how embarrassed Liam had been just moments ago, but it also kinda amused Niall. “Anyways… what I really meant was that there are probably things we haven’t talked about, that we probably should have already talked about.”

“We can talk about anything.” Liam told him, as if Niall was the only one here who thought they should actually discussed important life details. 

“Okay… maybe not now.” Niall decided, feeling slightly guilty because he was yet again pushing it away, but at the same time, it was in the middle of the bloody night and he’d already be tired as hell tomorrow morning. “We should sleep.”

“Now I’m not tired anymore.” It sounded as if he was joking, but somehow, Niall truly didn’t think that he was.

“I’ve just had a major flashback to May telling me the exact same thing hours ago. Do you also want me to read something to you?” She hadn’t actually wanted that, but whatever. Usually, May didn’t want Niall to read to her in general because she knew it’d just end with him making her practice her reading also. 

“No, thanks, I think I feel myself getting tired all of a sudden.” He chuckled, warm breath hitting Niall’s skin once more. 

“I’m an excellent story teller when I’m reading, just so you know. You’re seriously missing out… but I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes open long enough anyways.” Niall forced a yawn to prove his point, cuddling a bit deeper into Liam and the older man adjusted immediately, holding him tighter. “Are you gonna hear my alarm if I don’t?”

“Definitely, I’ll probably wake up before it even goes off, so no worries. Just go to sleep.” Liam ordered gently, his voice a bit more quietly and softer and when he kissed the top of Niall’s head, the younger man felt a few more butterflies in his stomach waking up again. 

“Goodnight… ‘m really glad you asked to come over.” Just so he knew, though he probably already did anyways, but there was nothing wrong with saying it out loud again, right? 

“Me too… sleep tight.” 

 

\--------------------

 

“So… he kinda lives at your place now?” Liam was a little confused still about this whole situation, but Louis just shrugged it off anyways, eating some more yoghurt from a bowl as he came over to sit in front of his laptop. “And since when are you eating yoghurt with _fruit_?”

“First of all” Louis started, actually eating even more and Liam rolled his eyes as he leaned back on the couch, waiting for his friend to swallow again. He may have started eating healthier somehow, but he sure as hell was still annoying. “Harry doesn’t live here, he has a lot of stuff here though, but we also spend time at his place, it’s whatever. And second of all, it tastes good and not everyone can afford a private trainer and nutritionist.”

“I don’t have a nutr-“

“Then maybe you should get one. Isn’t your tour about to start?” They hadn’t really hung out in a while, or had in depth chats about life about… well, about Harry and Niall, but Liam wasn’t so sure if he had missed it after all. He had still answered the Facetime call though, even though he was really fucking nervous about Niall coming over in a bit. It was around 9 in the morning and Liam had woken up 2 and a half hours ago before Niall’s alarm, needing a moment to really let it all sink in, that he was at Niall’s place, in his bed, with the younger man clinging to him in his sleep and honestly… Liam hadn’t felt this happy and content in what felt like months. Maybe even longer.

Saying goodbye had been kinda hard though it was literally only for a few hours, but still. Liam hadn’t ended up going to the gym like planned, he had rather gotten a taxi home and then started cleaning things up like an idiot, changing his clothes three times before deciding that there was no reason to even be nervous, after last night and everything else… pretty sure Niall didn’t care about these kinda things anymore.

Fuck, was it normal that Liam was missing him like crazy already? Nothing had really happened last night, but somehow he felt even closer to the younger man now, he knew there were things they still needed to talk about and clear up, but… he was suddenly so sure about this, it was like, there was nothing else Liam wanted more right now than to be with Niall.

“Yeah… but it’s only Europe.” Liam answered after zoning out for a moment, his arm kinda hurting already from holding his phone up even though it had only been a few minutes. “Why? Do you wanna come?”

“I might, I’ll think about it. Are you flying Niall out?” This question should have honestly been expected. 

“If he wants to come… but he’s really busy and May has school, so… “ So probably not. Which wouldn’t be a big deal at all because Liam wouldn’t ever be gone for a long time, he was just slightly afraid of when he had to go to America. Then again… if May was on summer break then and if Niall could have a few days off and their relationship had kinda, maybe, moved on... okay, not a good idea to think about this with Louis right fucking there behind the screen. 

“But you would? So you’re really that close? I mean, I already knew that, obviously, and he also took you home at my party and-“

“We really don’t need to talk about that again.” For the TWELTH time.

“I really enjoy talking about it though. And you’d never tell me anything yourself even though I’ve literally just told you that me and Harry are hooking up.” Okay, what? Had that really been necessary? 

“Okay. Great. I’m happy for you?” What else was there to say? Also, Louis always kinda moved fast with relationships, not a bad thing of course, but Liam didn’t need all the details. “It’s not like nobody knew.”

“Exactly, that’s why I’m saying, you don’t have to play pretend either. I knew you guys were texting way before you admitted you drunk texted him about going on a date, so I know you like him and I know you’re probably a lot closer than you’re letting on, but alright. Keep your secrets, they’re all gonna come out anyways.” He was right, but luckily he was busy eating and apparently doing things on his laptop at the same time so hopefully he didn’t notice Liam shifting a bit uncomfortably on his couch. If Louis only knew… “So how are you doing in general? Better?”

“Yeah, I’m doing fine. I’m excited for the tour to start and to finish that album.” The process was going a bit slower than Liam and his team would have liked, but… it usually turned out better whenever Liam wasn’t rushing things. And he was a tiny bit distracted by everything going on with Niall, but… that wasn’t a bad thing. He’d be fine. 

“That’s good. I’m glad Niall is such a great emotional support for you.” Wow, again?

“Seriously? Can we just have a normal conversation for once?” Before Niall had come in the picture, it had always been about other stuff of course, but they had known each other for so damn long and yet Liam couldn’t remember having one crush or relationship that Louis hadn’t known about immediately and wanted to talk about 24/7. “How’s work?”

“Alright-ish. It’s going good at the office, but the studio… not so much. I mean, it’s still going somewhat alright, and don’t worry, I’d warn Niall ahead of time if I had to close it or something, but it could be going better.” Okay, that wasn’t good, like, at all, and Liam felt bad that it only really stressed him out because he knew Niall needed the money, but then again, it was literally just a hobby for Louis, he had no child and he had good income apart from that.

“You know I could always-“

“No, that’s cheating. And I don’t even know if it’d help that much to have you showing up there, it’d just mean your fans would hang out in front of the door all day long and drive me insane.” Well, that was of course always a possibility. “We’re far from the point where I’d have to close it though, so maybe in a few months when I get really desperate.”

“Just let me know.” Liam shrugged, actually not minding the idea, and he still had songs to record for his album anyways, so… “Why are you even awake? Aren’t you off today?”

“I’ve been trying to wake up earlier even when I have a day off, apparently it helps.” Right.

“Helps with what?” As if Liam actually cared. And apparently, Louis didn’t either.

“I don’t know, okay? It just sounded like it made sense when Harry explained it.” How was he not embarrassed admitting that? 

“Maybe I could ask Harry to give you some tips on how not to be an annoying friend next because then-“

“You’re walking on _really_ thin ice, Payno, I hope you know that.” He definitely did, which was also why Louis’ threats weren’t exactly intimidating Liam that much anymore. Also, it was all just for jokes anyways, though he was genuinely annoyed whenever Louis brought up Niall because… god, did he never run out of questions? “You’ve never even talked to Harry besides at my party, have you?”

“Um, yeah, I think that was the only time. I also talked to this Zayn Niall’s friends with… it’s kinda weird meeting people who have like… normal jobs.” That sounded awful, but Louis had to know what Liam meant. It’s just… it made his own problems seem pretty fucking irrelevant whenever he heard about Niall’s.

“Alright, popstar, I think we should tone it down a bit. Your boyfriend is working _four_ normal jobs. Although… don’t know if I’d consider any of them normal except his taxi driving. How do you guys ever go on dates when he’s that busy?” Considering Louis had NO idea that they had ever even gone one date, he was asking this question pretty seriously, making Liam’s face quite hot. 

“He’s _not_ my boyfriend.” Yet. And Liam really wished he was but thinking that made him kinda nervous and also a bit stupid, so he tried to move on quickly. “And we-“

“Don’t say you’ve never been on a date, please. Because it’s pretty fucking obvious that you’re into him and if you still haven’t grown the balls to ask him out, I think I might do it for you.” How amused would Louis have been had he known it was actually Niall who had had to ask Liam on their first date because Liam had been too afraid? He’d never let him live it down. 

“I think you should rather get a hobby or two instead.” Seriously. “I can’t talk anymore, I have stuff to do.”

“Yeah? Like what?” Have a date with Niall? The fourth one, but who was counting besides Liam?

“Clean. Work out. Record an album. All things you wouldn’t know about, sorry.” Liam felt kind of proud of himself for that joke, but his friend looked barely phased, he just rolled his eyes a bit, continuing to eat. “Okay, bye.”

“Are you seriously going to just hang up now?” Louis almost choked because he had been swallowing so quickly, as if he had been afraid Liam would just end the call like that. To be fair, his thumb had already been hovering over the button.

“Yeah? I got things to do, I told you.” Like freak out for another half an hour or so before Niall would get here and Liam would realize he had been panicking for nothing at all. “I thought you’re probably going to hang out with Harry anyways.”

“Not at 9 in the morning, he’s at work.” Right, it was Friday, Liam had almost forgotten about that, like he tended to forget a lot because his schedule didn’t really follow week days anyways. Or normal hours. “But fine, hang up then and leave me all bored.”

“We’ve not spoken in like, days.” Not properly anyways. “It’s not my fault today is your day off and I gotta work.”

“I know you don’t have to work. Actually, I could come o-“

“I really do, bye.” And then Liam ended the call, knowing that Louis wouldn’t be pissed because he’d surely find something else to do and besides, Niall had just texted Liam, so that was obviously Liam’s priority now. 

 

_Niall 09:03  
Im back home now from dropping May off! You really don’t have to call a taxi to pick me up, I can drive myself_

 

He did receive a text message from Louis a few seconds later where he seemed a little pissed off, but Liam ignored it for a few minutes, which of course, only prompted more of them because his friend seemed genuinely upset now. Or at least bored, but whatever.

 

_To Niall 09:03  
It’d be complicated because of the parking. And I already called you one anyways, but I can also come myself if you want. The car should already be outside tho_

 

Liam had offered to pick Niall up of course, but the younger man had told him it was stupid if he drove home and then back to his place, so Liam had called someone to pick Niall up, not exactly a taxi, but… Niall would have never agreed if Liam had told him it was his personal driver. Who was already kinda in Niall’s street waiting for him, but whatever. 

He described the car to Niall and told him the license plate and the younger man sent him a few worried emojis that made Liam smile, suddenly freaking out again though once Niall had told him he had gotten in the car and that Liam really should have called a normal taxi instead. As if he would have ever done that.

It’d take a bit until Niall got here because of traffic and all that fun stuff, and to be honest, he would have probably been quicker taking the underground, but in what world would Liam have allowed that? Never in a billion years.

At least this way he was able to mentally prepare himself a little more, but that also didn’t quite work and then time of course passed by a lot more quickly than Liam would have thought and by the time his driver texted him asking if he should just bring Niall up, it felt as if only 5 minutes had passed or something.

Actually, it had kinda been Liam’s plan to meet Niall downstairs, but it was already too late for that anyways. Plus, he doubted the younger man would be upset with him for that, because the moment he arrived, he seemed to barely have thoughts for anything else except for Liam’s apartment. Right, that was something else Liam should have considered, and not just the state of his apartment or his own appearance.

“Do you really live here?” Niall obviously thought this was a joke for the first few moments, he was still just standing there staring while Liam said goodbye to his driver and made sure to close the front door. “I thought… I thought that only happened in movies or something. Like, rich people actually living in buildings where you gotta show your ID when you enter and… that view is even better than the one at the hotel… how do you ever wanna leave?”

“I guess… you get used to it. As snobby as that sounds.” It really did, now that Liam thought about it and saw the impressed look on Niall’s face, but he still took that step to lean in and briefly kiss him because they hadn’t even said hello yet. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, ‘course. I’m just a bit… overwhelmed. And you really didn’t have to send me your driver, but thank you. I can see now why you didn’t want me to drive myself.” He let out a laugh, but it was short and it sounded very breathless and Liam reached out to rub his hand over Niall’s back. “… wow, are these all your awards and stuff?”

“Um, yeah.” Okay, now Liam was a bit embarrassed for some reason, but he walked with Niall when he went to look at them lined up. That wasn’t all of them, but Liam refrained from saying that. He had never before questioned having them all right by the entrance, but now he kinda did. 

“That’s crazy… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nicer place.” Niall seemed to really mean it when he looked around, still obviously overwhelmed. 

“I can show you everything, if you want.” Liam didn’t wanna brag, but the younger man seemed very interested and he agreed eagerly, so… 

“Do you promise there are no secret doors with some Fifty Shades shit behind them?” He joked and Liam laughed because the question had sounded a little serious. 

“I promise. C’mon- oh, wait, should we order breakfast before? It might take a while until it gets here.” And Liam didn’t know exactly how long Niall had until he had to leave for work, but he didn’t seem in a rush just yet so that was a relief.

So they, or Liam, ordered and then Liam gave Niall a tour of his place, the younger man just growing seemingly more overwhelmed as Liam showed him everything, asking two more times if this was for real. It sounded more rhetorical though than anything else and Liam had never had anyone over who had been this impressed by his whole lifestyle. Maybe it had been a good thing he was only showing Niall his place now, after they had known each other for a bit.

“Is this your only place? I thought you had a dog and stuff.” When Niall asked they had already come back to the main room, the one with the window glass front that they were now standing in front of, Niall’s eyes never leaving the view of the city. 

“I’ve got a house outside the city, my dog is there and so are my parents currently. I’m mostly here though… it’s easier.” Especially because of Niall, but Liam didn’t say that because it also had something to do with his album of course, and the distance to the airport. “Sorry if this kinda… makes it all a bit weird.”

“Makes what weird? I mean, I feel kinda poor now but it’s not like I didn’t know about any of it already. It’s just crazy to me that you actually live like this and that that’s probably the most normal part of it all.” He wasn’t really wrong with that. “But I don’t think you’re a snob now, if that was your concern. I already thought that way before.”

“Thank you, that’s so calming.” Liam laughed when he saw Niall’s smile, relaxing a little. 

“It just feels weird being here now because most of the time I forget you’re a celebrity.” Niall told him, which kinda made Liam happy because that was exactly what he wanted. “Not that it actually matters. We wouldn’t know each other otherwise, I guess.”

“Probably not.” The older man agreed after a moment, glad that Niall actually saw his lifestyle as a burden rather than a win. He was doing this all _despite_ the fact that Liam was well known and not because of it. Not that Liam would have ever thought that, but he had definitely met people who had wanted to get with him just for the fame and the money. And too many of them. 

Liam watched Niall for way longer than appropriate while the younger man was busy admiring the view, just staring at his face and thinking about how all of this had happened just by chance, had Liam not gone to the studio that night, had he been a bit later, had he not had a mental breakdown… it almost felt like too much of a coincidence. And just because Liam kinda believed in stuff like that, he also wasn’t thinking when he blurted out with his question.

“Do you wanna come to one of my concerts?” Just because Louis had mentioned it before, not knowing he was giving Liam ideas of course. “I don’t have any in London until the summer, but… I can fly you out. And May of course.”

“Where?” Niall seemed a bit surprised, looking at the older man now and Liam couldn’t help but step closer, until he could settle his hands on Niall’s hips. 

“Anywhere you want. I know you’re busy and stuff, but… maybe if you’ve got time and May doesn’t have school.” There had to be some more school holidays in the next two months, right?

“May doesn’t have a passport, we’ve never been anywhere.” Oh. 

“We can get her one.” Was Liam’s first response, because what else should he have said? And he had used the _we_ because he wasn’t sure if Niall wanted to spend money on that, but then again… he probably wouldn’t want Liam to pay for it either. “I mean… of course everything provided you want to and stuff. It’s not like I’ll be gone for longer than two or three days whenever I have a concert, so… or I could also just get you tickets for a London one, if that’s easier for you. Or both of them.“

Niall stayed quiet for a moment, resting his hands on Liam’s arms before moving them up until he could wrap his arms loosely around the older’s neck, leaving goosebumps wherever he touched him. “Can I think about it for a few days? I just… I gotta figure it out somehow because of work, and check whenever May can be away from school and stuff. And the passport thing. But I’d really want to visit you on tour.” 

“Okay, of course, yeah. If it’s too stressful or something then I totally understand, I’m just happy if you want to come.” Liam really meant it, and his smile was probably way too big and he sounded too enthusiastic about it already even though Niall hadn’t even said yes. “And because of her passport, you don’t need to worry about pay-“

“She’s my child, I’ll pay for her passport. Now stop before I change my mind about kissing you.” Niall interrupted, not giving Liam another chance to say something because he had already leaned in to connect their lips, clinging tighter to the older man and it quickly caused Liam to forget what they had been talking about anyways. 

The thing was, everything was going so well with them, Liam was almost afraid that it wasn’t going to last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, that last sentence may or may not have been some foreshadowing haha, but you all know me & i think we all need some drama! 
> 
> sorry that this is again turning into more slow burn, but ive done worse like not having them kiss for like 438274 chapters, so! were kinda in between (at least for me!). i hope you all liked the chapter & that niall and liam are getting more serious, because now that i have kinda built all this up without planning on doing it i can get to writing the things that actually made me wanna start this story, so i hope youre all still excited enough to continue reading!
> 
> also, theres something i wanted to address and i thought about not doing that but it felt wrong somehow, especially because louis is quite a bit in this chapter. obviously having been in the 1D fandom for years and despite the fact that i only really follow liams career still (and niall a bit), fizzy passing away really shocked me, i was lying awake last night when i read it, kinda not being able to wrap my head around it. ive not kept up with louis for quite a while but because i kinda went through my teens with 1D, whatever happens to them is always kinda going to affect me. and i cant even imagine the pain he and his family must be going through or how they will ever learn to deal with this, i just hope they are getting professional help and that somehow, by some miracle, they can get through this & im definitely keeping them all in my thoughts.
> 
> i hope you still have a good weekend/week, i love and appreciate every single one of you <3


	12. Chapter 12

“Can I ask you something?“ Niall had been thinking about it for a few minutes, maybe even longer than that, now having decided that it really wasn’t worth pretending to be focusing on work anymore. 

“Hm?” Harry sounded absent, he was staring at his laptop screen and maybe that was a good thing actually because he didn’t need to take too much notice of the other man’s hesitation.

“I was just wondering… “ Or actually he hadn’t been wondering at all, because everyone knew. Really everyone. “You and Louis are together now, right? As in… you know?”

“I’m actually not sure if I know.” Great. “What do you mean?”

“Like, dating.” Niall made some movement with his hand, almost knocking over his coffee. He should have really drank it instead because his concentration was getting worse with pretty much every second passing. Doing work at home genuinely wasn’t the best idea, but somehow it always sounded like the best idea ever until they actually did it.

Not that they had had a choice, this hadn’t been planned or expected and it was a Monday night and almost May’s bedtime.

“I mean… “ Harry started, breaking off, but not because he sounded unsure but rather because he was typing something at the same time and Niall genuinely wanted to know how he was so relaxed and focused. All those years at uni had apparently done more positive things to him than to Zayn in terms of work ethic. “Yeah? I guess.”

“You guess?” How could he not be sure? “What does that mean?”

“That I assume we’re doing what you would call dating? Look-“ He started, actually taking the time to move his laptop to the side so he could properly look at Niall, interlacing his fingers. This wasn’t good. “Neither of us ever mentioned the word dating, we just don’t sleep with other people and for now we’re only interested in each other.”

“For now?” Seriously, Niall suddenly felt like a child being explained what it meant when two people loved each other, and he should have known that Harry wouldn’t start putting labels on his relationships somehow, but it had been ages since he had dated… or whatever he wanted to call it.

“Feelings change. People change. My career plans might change. I don’t know. I like Louis and he likes me and it’s going great, in pretty much all aspects, that’s all we both really care about. Why are you asking anyways?” Because clearly Niall liked to suffer.

“Don’t know, I was just wondering because it all went so quick and… I definitely wouldn’t ask Louis.” Unless he would have wanted the most detailed description of their sex life followed by 10 billion questions about Liam, so yeah. 

“It’s almost been 2 months since we met. How is that quick?” Okay, maybe they had different understandings of that word. 

“It felt quick to me, I just… I didn’t know when it all happened. It was just like… that.” Niall had forgotten where he had thought this would get him, also Harry just stared at him in confusion and honestly, this had been the worst idea ever because it surely wouldn’t help Niall to concentrate. 

“And that concerns you, or… ?” The other man sounded genuinely interested, which was quite understandable considering the fact that Niall was only talking bullshit.

“No. I mean, maybe? Like, not in the way that I think you don’t make a good couple or that I’m worried or whatever, just in terms of… my own views on dating in general.” Obviously there was a reason why Niall was asking, namely the fact that ever since Liam had slept over last week and Niall had seen his place on Friday and they had made out on the older’s couch for so long Niall had almost missed work and Liam had then slept over again on the weekend… suddenly Niall was panicking. A little. Did Liam think they were together? He was obviously ready to sleep with Niall. He wanted him to visit him on tour, so maybe that meant he also wanted to go public?

Sure, Niall could have talked to Liam about that, but those thoughts had only really come when Liam had left Sunday afternoon and Niall had had time to let it all rewind in his mind while playing board games with May.

“Well, your views don’t have to be the same as mine or Louis’, and you’re in a completely different situation than me as well, like… I can just decide to have Louis come over whenever and if we ended this it wouldn’t impact any aspects of my life. But you’ve got May, so… “ Harry shrugged, unknowingly having made Niall even more nervous with that statement. May was so attached to Liam by now, she had almost cried when he had said goodbye yesterday and it surely wasn’t getting better but worse somehow, like, she seemed to like him even more now than ever before. Of course a good thing, but… was Niall really making the right choices? For her? “I wasn’t aware you’re dating someone.”

“I’m not.” Niall answered quickly, though he couldn’t have ignored the look on his friend’s face even if he had wanted to. Harry wasn’t talking about _someone_ and they both knew it. 

“Okay? Then why the worries?” See, this was the part where Niall realized he had made a huge mistake because he had brought this upon himself. Maybe he had wanted to talk about it deep down, with someone else than his mother who called every few days to ask how things were with Liam, whether they had already talked about everything. They should have, but somehow they weren’t because maybe Niall needed more time… for literally no reason. 

“I don’t know, I was just thinking, that’s all. And I wasn’t sure where you and Louis stand so I thought I’d ask.” He still wasn’t sure, but apparently neither were they and somehow it was 100 times easier for everyone else than for Niall. Then again… Louis wasn’t a celebrity and Harry didn’t have a child and 4 jobs. Best combination ever. Not. “I should go and tell May t-“

“Wait.” Harry stopped him when Niall had been about to get up, his face feeling a little flushed and he actually thought about just ignoring his friend, but he kinda couldn’t. Shit, that one time Niall really wanted his daughter to come interrupt them and she was being a good child and playing by herself in her room. “I feel like since it’s an open secret by now anyways… if you’re into Liam and you’re unsure of it then we can talk about it if you want. I won’t tell Louis anything.”

“I… “ Shit. “It’s not that.”

“So you’re not into him?” Why did he sound so surprised? As if the idea of Niall NOT being into Liam was genuinely startling him. Okay, well, maybe it was kinda unrealistic at this point, whatever.

“I- Look, um… this is kinda… complicated and-“

“Just spit it out, Niall, seriously. We’re not teenagers anymore.” Well, he was very right about that, but also the last time Niall had dated someone had been when he had been a teenager, so maybe he was still kinda stuck in that time. But also… maybe he should have asked Liam first if it was alright to tell Harry, even though… it seemed as if everyone already knew anyways. “So what happened?”

“A lot.” Niall told him honestly after a moment, not even really sure what exactly he meant but Harry didn’t seem surprised anyways.

“Did you go on that date or whatever? Louis said something.” Niall just nodded to that, suddenly starting to feel rather nervous, but his friend just carried on anyways. “Okay. Did you go on more dates then?” Another nod. “Does May know?” So Niall nodded again even though she didn’t really know about it but Harry probably just meant if he knew that Niall knew Liam privately. “Did you kiss him?” Honestly, Niall could’ve just kept on nodding at this point because it was getting strange. “Did you sleep w-“

“No. We went on a couple dates, he’s been over a few times, I’ve been at his place, he’s met my parents and May thinks he’s my friend and we talk on the phone a lot and stuff and… that’s all.” Didn’t sound complicated at all, actually, now that Niall had said it out loud. 

“What’s his place like?” Seriously?

“Huge. I’ve never felt this poor.” Okay, that was kinda a lie, maybe Niall had felt poorer when Liam had rented the president suite at a hotel just for a date. “But that’s beside the point, I… I don’t wanna talk about it, actually. Just please don’t tell Louis, I gotta warn Liam before he finds out.”

“I won’t, but in Louis’ eyes you guys have been dating ever since he found out you were texting so he wouldn’t even be surprised. Just annoying, probably.” At least Harry was aware of that. “I think we should talk about it, it’s obviously bothering you.”

“I don’t know if it’s bothering me, I don’t even know if maybe I’m making this in a much bigger deal than it has to be because I haven’t been with anyone since May was born and now Liam wants to fly us out for his tour and I don’t even really know if he thinks we’re dating and my mom keeps asking me about it and whenever I’m with Liam it seems pretty clear but then he leaves and I start to worry and May doesn’t even have a passport and-“

“Okay, okay, hold on. I mean, I understand this is complicated, because he’s a celebrity and everything. But you like him, May likes him, Liam likes both of you and… I think you’re definitely making this in a bigger deal than it has to be. You can still live your life even though you have a daughter.” Easier said than done.

“Can I though? Maybe I’m ruining her life in the process. Maybe Liam and I really start dating and we make it public and then I’m dragging May into this and into some trashy magazines and online platforms and maybe one day we break up and it’ll be a huge mess and people will hate me and I’ll get kicked out of every job and May gets teased at school. Anything could happen and I just try to ignore it all most of the time and I think Liam’s doing the same. I mean… our lives are on the complete opposite endings of a spectrum, how could this ever work long term?” Now Niall was really getting into it, but he somehow couldn’t stop himself anymore now that he had started.

“You’re definitely thinking too much. Just talk to him, seriously. I mean, yeah, it’d probably be easier with someone else-

“With _anyone_ else.” Niall threw in, but Harry ignored it.

“But for some reason he’s still the only person you let yourself get seriously involved with in _years_. And if it works and you get along, then don’t ruin it by overthinking and worrying about your daughter. May loves him, she’d be over the moon if you were dating him and I doubt she would have accepted just anyone else so quickly.” Okay, but that was literally the only positive side to all of this and it wasn’t even THAT positive because it just brought more problems. “And let him pay for her passport.”

“No? I don’t want his money and I don’t want him to think I do, because I really don’t. I try to ignore how rich he is as best as I can.” Which worked really well whenever Liam was here, actually, but nowhere else. 

“Well, you’d also let him pay for the flights I assume.” Did Harry really HAVE to make it worse?

“Maybe we won’t even visit him anyways.” They probably shouldn’t anyways, right? Liam hadn’t brought it up anymore since, probably because Niall had told him he needed time. At first he had REALLY wanted to go, but now the worries were creeping back into his mind. Even more now that he was saying them all out loud to someone else. 

“Why not? If he’s paying-“

“Haz, can you stop mentioning his money? It’s not the only- oh my god, imagine if we really started dating, like, in public? Everyone would think I’m with him for his money because I’m poor.” That was opening whole new problems to worry about. “Everyone would hate us, his fans-“

“Who cares about his fans? They probably hate everyone who’s close to him anyways.” EXACTLY.

“Yeah? That’s the problem. Oh my god, Harry.” Niall let his head fall onto his arms on the table, suddenly feeling as if he was completely going to lose it. He shouldn’t have ignored it all for so long, he should have never asked Liam on this date without thinking it all through, and now they were both in too deep and he actively missed Liam whenever he wasn’t here and there was no going back. Oh god. 

“Since when are you such a drama queen?” Good question. 

“Since I let it all get out of control and didn’t deal with the problem when I should have.” Niall’s voice was muffled because he had his head down, but Harry could hear him anyways. “I’m a terrible father.”

“Yeah, right.” The other man was probably rolling his eyes though deep down he probably thought Niall was right. Or maybe he didn’t, whatever, it only really mattered what Niall thought about himself anyways. “Just talk to Liam. Okay? And don’t break up with him or ghost him.”

“I can’t break up with someone who I’m not dating.” Or maybe they were, maybe Niall was just too old fashioned for all this. 

“Okay, whatever, but talk to him, yeah? It’ll all be good, you’ll see, just relax. And you should really try some yoga... or meditating.” Was he serious?!

“Maybe I should have talked to Zayn.” Sounded like the best option right about now.

“Talk to him then, we both know he would recommend you two go out and get smashed and you don’t do well with alcohol anymore, but okay.” Harry didn’t sound upset or anything, in fact, he was again typing on his laptop and Niall groaned. “Niall, I’m not going to feed into your self pity, nothing even happened. You finally started seeing someone after years of just being a dad and working, it’ll be good for you.”

“Why couldn’t it have been someone in my league?” Seriously, why couldn’t Niall have fallen for some guy, or maybe a woman, whatever, who wasn’t above him in every aspect of life?

“You would’ve found a problem with it no matter who it would have been. And there’s no point in dwelling on the what if’s, I don’t think things like that happen for no reason, even if it ended badly, it still would’ve taught you something.” Now he was starting with this again.

“Can we please not talk about my soul growing from this, I don’t think I can take a religious conversation tonight.” Maybe Harry was right, who knew? Niall surely didn’t, because he didn’t know anything right now. “May should’ve already gone to bed.”

“So then she’s gonna be in bed a few minutes later, whatever. You don’t always have to do everything perfectly and immediately have an answer.” Harry was petting his back, so Niall sat up, but also because he was kinda running out of air a little.

“I’d like to, though. I think _that_ would be good for my soul.” Niall let out a sigh, glancing at the clock before forcing himself to get up. “I’ll be right back.”

May ended up going to bed way too late, because she still hadn’t brushed her teeth and then she wanted to say goodnight to Harry and Niall tried to not care too much, but it was still stressing him out. Also because he and Harry still had kind of a lot of work to do and he was tired. Then again, he probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyways, so whatever.

They had to change around a lot on the website and everything kept crashing and Niall’s WIFI wasn’t working too great either because they were both using it and short, it was a real tragedy. At this rate, they’d be up all night to be honest. Why was anyone even letting the two of them run this entire website for a whole law firm? 

“Louis is asking if we need anything, he’s free to run chores.” Was that supposed to be funny?

“Unless he can fix this, then I don’t need anything, thanks.” Niall refrained from rolling his eyes, somehow it really annoyed him right now that Louis and Harry would have probably been hanging out tonight if it hadn’t been for this. Maybe Niall would have hung out with Liam as well, who knew? But the older man was busy writing songs anyways. “If you let him come over just make sure to tell him beforehand that May’s asleep.”

“Don’t think it’d be a good idea if he came over, we wouldn’t get anything done.” Also, it was literally 10 at night. “Then again… we aren’t getting anything done.”

“If you want him to come so badly then just tell him to come, I don’t care anymore. We’re gonna be up all night anyways.” Maybe a bit dramatic, but at least Harry seemed thrilled. Well, at least one of them should get their happy relationship, right? “Don’t mention Liam. Under any circumstances or I’ll murder you.”

“He’s gonna mention Liam himself, you know he will.” Sadly.

Niall made sure to close May’s bedroom door and the hallway door though he was pretty sure she wouldn’t have woken up anyways because they were being quiet and she had a deep sleep. And Louis also had the decency to not ring the doorbell when he arrived a while later, looking way too awake for Niall’s liking. What was wrong with him? It was in the middle of the night and he had genuinely just driven here just to watch Harry work? 

“Tell me if I can help with anything.” He had brought them some snacks though Niall would have had stuff to eat as well, but not Harry’s favorites’. Also, the way they kissed upon seeing each other made Niall feel as if they had been together for even longer than they even knew each other. Why was this so easy for everyone besides him? “I have no idea what you’re even doing, but I’d try my best.”

“Neither do we.” Harry told him, reaching over to let his arm fall around the back of Louis’ chair, smiling at him, and Niall pretended he hadn’t been watching. What the hell? “What were you doing before you came? You were really quick.”

“Nothing, I was hoping you’d be done sooner and come over, so I was in bed, actually.” So he had gotten re-dressed and everything? Damn, he was really into Harry, how had Niall not realized how serious they were before tonight? Maybe because this was a side of Louis he had never seen before, or because he had literally never been alone with both of them at once like this. “What’s Liam up to tonight?”

“Why are you asking me?” Niall quickly stopped himself from saying the truth, because he knew exactly what Liam was doing tonight because they had talked on the phone before Harry had come over hours ago. “He’s your best friend.”

“Maybe you should take a break or something.” Louis joked and Niall ignored him, but he saw Harry shaking his head at the oldest man, as if he was silently telling him to shut up, but Louis just shrugged anyways, not saying anything else.

It was annoying Niall that Louis was here even though he let them work, but just knowing he was sitting there watching and sharing these glances with Harry and touching him made Niall regret that he had allowed him to come over. It was too late for that though so he tried his very best to ignore it, for half an hour or something until his phone suddenly lit up and he had half a heart attack thinking it was Liam calling him, for all of them to see. But it wasn’t. 

Not that that was a relief because it was his mother, who usually went to bed way earlier than that.

“Mom? It’s ten th-“

“Your father had an accident, I’m about to drive to the hospital, the ambulance already took him t-“

“Wait, what?! What happened?!” Niall completely forgot about Harry and Louis sitting there, he was just zoning out completely, already imaging the worst things. 

“He fell down the stairs, didn’t turn on the lights, I woke up because I heard a bang.” She sounded somewhat calm, not crying or anything, so that was sort of a relief, but maybe she was just in shock? Oh god. “The ambulance literally just left, there was no way for me to ride with them, but I’m walking to the car right now.”

“Okay, I- should I come? I’ll meet you at the hospital.” Niall decided without thinking because oh god, what if it was serious? What if his father would… die? And Niall had decided to stay home? “Or maybe I should come pick you u-“

“No, I’m driving, it’d take too long. What about May? She has school tomorrow.” There were sounds in the background and Niall heard her car door open and close, knowing she was about to end the call.

“Harry is here, she’s not alone.” He told her automatically without having even done as much as looked at the other two men. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, call me when you’re there, love.” The she ended the call without saying goodbye and Niall had a bad feeling about her driving a car by herself right now, in the middle of the night and possibly being in shock and-

“What happened?” Harry asked immediately after Niall had ended the call and just gotten up. This had come so out of nowhere, he wasn’t even quite sure where his head was right now.

“My dad fell down the stairs, the ambulance is taking him to the hospital and I’m meeting my mom there, can you guys stay here and watch May, please? In case she wakes up. You can eat and do anything you want, I-“

“Wait, wait, I’m going with you. You shouldn’t drive by yourself right now, you’re super pale and you sound really weird.” Well, he also FELT weird. “Louis can stay and watch May. If that’s okay with both of you.”

“I have no problem with it.” Louis immediately threw in, but Niall actually had to take a second to think about it, his brain not really allowing it though. “I’ve got the whole night, no matter how long it takes.”

“I- Okay. Alright. Thank you. Call me if anyth-“

“I will, I promise.” This was maybe the first time that Louis sounded dead serious when he looked at Niall, which was calming, but also, Niall wasn’t really in a position to make the best decisions right now, so it was probably for the best if Harry was going with him. Would’ve also been better if they had picked up his mother as well so she wasn’t going alone, but it was too late for that.

“Okay, let’s go, c’mon.” Harry decided, almost immediately ready to go and Niall just nodded, still feeling a little flashed and not as if this was really happening, he also took no notice of Harry and Louis saying goodbye to each other or how they actually got to his car, Harry taking the key out of his hands.

Well, thank god that Louis had come over after all, right?

 

\-----------------------

 

When Louis called him it was after eleven at night and Liam genuinely thought about ignoring it. Was he out and getting drunk on a Monday night? Or was it just one of his antics again, or some stupid idea he had come up with and needed to share with Liam right at this second? Probably a combination of all of it, but Liam still brought himself to answer the phone after all.

It's not like he had anything better to do and the song writing wasn’t going that great anyways.

“What?” Liam answered the phone sounding annoyed, because he WAS annoyed. Maybe it was a prank call.

“Hi. This is a little weird and I really didn’t wanna call, but… “ What the hell? Louis sounded anything besides drunk or even over-tired, he much rather sounded worried. “Are you busy right now?”

“Kinda?” Depended, maybe it was an emergency? Now Liam felt bad. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”

“I’m kinda… babysitting for Niall at his place.” Wait… what?!

“Why are _you_ babysitting for Niall?” Now Liam felt all sorts of emotions, but it surely wasn’t guilt anymore. Niall had chosen to ask Louis to babysit for him?! At his flat?!

“I- Can you maybe not sound so offended? It’s a long story. Anyways, I’m sure you’ve been to Niall’s place before even if you didn’t tell me, so… could you maybe… come?” Liam had literally never been more confused in his entire life.

“Why?” He couldn’t just go to Niall’s place like that.

“Well, because May woke up and she’s crying, like hardcore crying, and I can’t really call Niall and I told her so then she started crying for you instead and… we can talk about it when you’re there. Just come.” Okay, THIS sounded a lot more serious, also it was about May now and not about Louis and Liam didn’t think twice this time. 

“Okay, alright, but… where is Niall?” Did he have to work? Maybe he had forgotten about it or something, he had told Liam he was working with Harry, at home… maybe he had meant Harry’s home? Still, all of this was a little weird considering Louis’ involvement.

“I’ll tell you when you’re there, okay? Just don’t text Niall right now, please, trust me. May, can you-“ And Liam never heard the rest because Louis just hung up the phone after that. This had to be the very last thing Liam would have thought his night would turn into.

Of course Liam wanted to text Niall, but he refrained from doing it, because whatever was going on, Niall must have let Louis into his flat and trusted him enough to babysit his daughter, so that meant it had been his decision and Liam… well, Liam was now showing up to his place uninvited, but what else was he supposed to do?

It was really late and a Monday night and Liam didn’t actually need that long to get to Niall’s place, feeling really weird though to text _Louis_ to let him in. This was wrong, and yeah, Niall probably wouldn’t be mad or anything, but still. Where the hell was he? And why had he asked LOUIS to babysit? He could have asked Liam.

“Hi… where’s May?” Liam would have expected her to be here when Louis let him and Liam immediately took his shoes off, afraid he’d get anything dirty. “What’s even going on here?”

“She’s in her room, still crying. She’s upset with me or whatever, I don’t really know what’s going on, she woke up bawling her eyes out and asking for Niall and he’s not here and I can’t call him so then suddenly she started asking if he’s with you and where you are and… I think you can probably calm her down better.” Probably, but Louis wasn’t supposed to know that. Not that it really mattered anymore, because surely May had said a lot she shouldn’t have said. She was a child though, obviously Liam wasn’t upset or anything, he was really just worried as hell. 

“I’ll go check on her. Where is Niall? Is he working?” Liam had to ask again while already walking down the hallway, ignoring the fact that Louis shouldn’t know that he had never been here. Whatever, screw all of that secret keeping right now. 

Louis never answered that question, he just followed Liam has he approached May’s closed bedroom door, knocking softly. Waking up and only finding Louis there must have upset her so much she had genuinely thrown her door shut into his face. Or so it seemed. 

“May? Are you okay, love? It’s me, Liam.” He tried, resisting the urge to just open the door though he was worried as hell and she was just a little girl and hopefully nothing serious was going on. “Can I-“

Liam never had to finish because that had been enough for May to immediately open her door, her face wet and red, but Liam barely had any time to look at her properly because he automatically picked her up when she stretched her arms out towards him. Because he had spent quite some time with her and Niall here, it almost felt normal by now to carry her or have her on his lap and she also adjusted immediately, almost choking Liam with how tight her arms were around his neck, crying into his shoulder.

“I w-want m-my d-daddy… “ It was truly heartbreaking, like yeah, Liam had seen her cry and experienced a few minor breakdowns, but Niall had been there to handle them. Right now though, she was almost wailing, her voice disrupted by sobs and Liam couldn’t help but throw a look at Louis for letting it get so out of control. 

“I know, love, shh, it’s okay, he’s gonna come home soon.” Was he? Louis was frantically shaking his head now while Liam was rocking May in his arms so he tried to ignore him as he rubbed her back. She hadn’t been listening to him anyways. “Do you wanna tell me why you woke up? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Y-Yes a-and… and t-then… my d-daddy w-wasn’t t-there a-and… h-hes a-always t-there… w-where i-is h-he?” So Niall hadn’t even told her? Was this… was this more serious than Liam had thought at first?

“I… “ He started, not knowing what to say, so he threw another look at Louis, who was just standing there a bit uselessly, refusing to say it out loud. Okay, but now Liam was genuinely getting concerned. “Louis, where is Niall?”

“He’s with Harry, they had to… help Niall’s mother with something.” Louis told him, but at the same time, he suddenly took out his phone and Liam thought he would have to murder him for just playing on it now, but in reality he was just typing something before showing the screen to Liam so May wouldn’t hear it. 

 

_nialls dad is in hospital, they went to see him but DON’T freak out now. Hes doing alright_

 

Liam was _definitely_ freaking out now, but he was trying not to let it show. Fuck, he needed to text Niall or call him or… or maybe not. Maybe he should have just given Niall and his family privacy and just made sure that May was alright for now because surely Niall would have appreciated that a lot more. And it’s not like Liam could have helped his father, right? At least now it made sense why Louis hadn’t wanted Niall to know about his daughter waking up, actually, that had been quite thoughtful.

“See? He’s just with your grandma, he’ll be right back. He didn’t think you’d wake up or he would have never just left without telling you, I promise, May.” So Liam decided to focus on the little girl still crying again, ignoring Louis as he slowly walked to the kitchen with her. “Do you want some hot chocolate? We can also watch a movie, anything you want.”

“B-But… i-it’s t-too l-late… d-daddy will g-get m-mad… “ May sobbed, and apparently the thought of that only made her cry even harder. 

“No, he won’t get mad, I promise. If he did then only at me and not you, okay? It’s alright May, everything will be fine. Your daddy will be home soon and I’m here until then and we can do whatever you want, no matter how late it is, yeah? Today is an exception.” Liam was trying to make it appealing somehow, hoping that Niall didn’t mind him making hot chocolate and getting a cup for May. He only did it because he had seen Niall do that before to calm her down and he was really desperate.

Doing everything with only one arm while May was clinging to him was a bit of a challenge, but Liam somehow managed though it would have definitely been easier had Louis not been watching him while leaning in the doorway as if none of this was his concern anymore. “You really know your way around here.”

Liam decided to simply ignore that comment though he knew his silence was the same as admitting it in this case, but whatever. After tonight, there was no way him and Niall would be able to keep any of this a secret anyways. And somehow… somehow Liam was maybe a little relieved by that almost. He wanted them to move along in their relationship, not have it just be going on dates and kissing, he wanted _everything_ , but he knew saying that would have potentially scared Niall away and it’s not like Liam couldn’t be patient. Even if he wasn’t on the inside.

“Okay, alright. Do you wanna go to your room? Or should we go sit in the living room?” Liam let May decide after taking the cup out of the microwave, still not having spilled anything so that was great. 

“I d-don’t w-wanna go t-to my r-room...” Her voice was still breaking a bit and there were the occasional sniffs, but at least she wasn’t sobbing uncontrollably anymore and just clinging to Liam as if she never intended to let him go again. 

Since Louis had already abandoned them and gone sitting in the living room as well, Liam decided that they should do the same because there were no other options anyways. Plus, maybe he would manage to distract her by turning on a movie or something, make her sleepy because it was a school night after all. 

“Do you think you can look at me?” After putting down her hot chocolate and sitting down with May in his lap, Liam kinda had a hard time getting her to loosen her death grip on him, but she did eventually sit back a little, legs on either side of Liam’s because that’s how he had been holding her. “Are you feeling a little better, hm?”

“N-No.” She told him, sniffing again while Liam tried to gently wipe her face with his hands because he had no tissues, brushing her hair back behind her ears. “D-Don’t l-leave.”

“I’m not leaving, I promise. I’m staying right here with you until your daddy comes home, okay?” Somehow Liam wondered what Louis was thinking about all this, whether he was connecting the dots while staying quiet, or if he felt a bit bad that May hadn’t even wanted to be in the same room as him but was now begging Liam to stay with her. Obviously it was because Liam had spent so much time with her and Niall, had played with her and even read her a bedtime story before, but Louis didn’t know that. He could have probably guessed it by now though. “Do you wanna try the hot chocolate? I’m afraid I’m probably not as good at making it as your dad.”

“’s o-okay … “ May sniffed and Liam’s heart was melting a little when he reached for the cup, making sure it wasn’t too hot before letting her drink, keeping a hold on it as well though May was reaching out for it also. Having to change her pajamas now and possibly making a mess on the couch was really the last thing any of them needed tonight. “It’s alright… “

“I’m glad.” Liam told her, biting back a smile upon her very honest judgement. She did end up drinking more though before allowing Liam to put it back on the table. “Are you feeling better now?” 

“Maybe… a b-bit.” It was obvious that she was tired, probably also from crying so much and the whole stress of the situation and Liam truly hoped she’d be able to go back to sleep somehow because it was the middle of the night. And surely Niall would have more worries once he came home. 

“Do you wanna try and see if maybe you can sleep? Or do you want to watch a movie or something else?” No idea what else, Liam was just trying not to cause yet another meltdown.

May seemed to think about it, rubbing at her eyes with her knuckles before moving on Liam’s lap, but only to sit sideways, slowly tracing the tattoos on the back of his hand when he loosely wrapped his arms around her. “When I can’t sleep… daddy reads to me.”

“We can do that. Do you know what book you wanna read?” Liam didn’t wanna go through Niall’s stuff, so he was hoping May would be willing to go and get it or that it was in her room at least.

“Yeah… it’s in my room.” Thankfully.

“… I can go and get it. Where is it?” Louis offered after a moment and Liam almost flinched because he had forgotten he was even there. 

“Next to my bed… “ May half whispered, as if she was afraid of Louis or something, but she was probably just shy and a little traumatized from waking up from a nightmare and only finding him there. “Can you also get my bunny?”

“I- yeah, of course. Is there only one bunny?” There was, but Liam refrained from answering for May because there was no need to literally rub it into Louis’ face that he had been here a couple times.

“Yeah… “ The little girl told him, still sniffing a bit as she leaned more into Liam when Louis left, half lying in the crook of his arm. “I wish my daddy was already here…”

“I know, love, but he’s gonna come soon, okay? And until then we’ll just read a bit and the time is gonna go by much faster than you think, yeah?” Hopefully. Liam wanted to text Niall SO bad, but he knew that that would have only caused him to freak out even more than he probably already was. “Do you wanna… do you wanna tell me about the dream you had?”

As an answer, May simply shook her head before burying it against Liam’s shirt, so that was answer enough for the man and he internally hated himself for having brought that back up. 

“Alright, I hope that’s the right book?” Louis made it sound like a question when he came back, apparently having had some trouble finding everything May had wanted and Liam waited for her to nod before taking the book from his friend, avoiding his eyes though. “And here’s your bunny. Think he was getting lonely without you as well.”

“Thank you… “ May mumbled, ignoring Louis’ attempt to talk to her and simply taking the stuffed animal from him to hold it against her chest. 

Liam had read to her before, so at least it wasn’t his first time reading to a child, but Louis’ presence was almost making him nervous now, so he tried to block him out. The book wasn’t thick of course because it was for children and Liam just hoped it was long enough to make May tired enough to fall asleep before he was finished. Well, they could have also read another few books if she didn’t.

Liam tried his best to read the book as enthusiastically as possible but also not too loud or anything, having a little bit of trouble holding it and turning the pages when May started hugging his arm, but it was all good, for as long as she was somewhat alright. There were a ton of questions on Liam’s mind, and he couldn’t ask any of them with May here, so he tried to push everything to the back of his head for now except for that book. 

No idea how much time had passed, Liam just kept going, making sure May could also look at all the pictures before he turned the pages and when Louis spoke up, Liam had honestly almost gotten lost in that story. Not that it was very deep or anything, but…

“I think you can stop.” The older man suddenly spoke up and Liam struggled over the last word as he threw a look over just to see his friend grinning at him, and then down to see May soundly asleep, still holding onto Liam’s arm but also sucking her thumb. Something which Liam knew Niall didn’t want her to do, but he was afraid to wake her if he tried to remove it. 

“Have you just let me read on?” He definitely had.

“Only for a bit, I didn’t really notice she fell asleep at first either. Already took the cutest picture as well.” Louis sounded proud of himself, and Liam just hoped he was sensible enough to know that he couldn’t post that picture anywhere online, under any circumstances. “You’re so good with her.”

“I don’t know.” Liam refrained from shrugging, trying not to move too much as he put the book on the table. “Now you can finally tell me what’s really going on. Have you heard from Niall in the meantime?”

“No, but Harry texted me and he’s there with him. They’re still waiting to find out what’s going on with Niall’s dad and then they’ll come back.” Wait…

“You said his dad was alright?” Had he lied?! What the hell?

“He is, I mean, I didn’t know that before when I told you but I do now, okay? Sorry, I didn’t wanna freak you out in front of May and if Niall would’ve known she’s woken up and crying he would have wanted to come back and I didn’t wanna worry him even more. So that’s also why I called you to come, I would’ve never gotten her to calm down enough to go back to sleep.” Probably not, although she had been tired all along and eventually, she would have probably tired herself out even from crying.

“Why were you even here?” There was no way Niall would have called Louis to come and actually waited for him to arrive, so Louis must have already been here for some reason.

“Harry and Niall were working really late and I wanted to see Harry, so you don’t need to be jealous. I doubt Niall would have wanted me to babysit had his mom not called out of nowhere and Harry thought he shouldn’t have gone by himself when he’s all worked up, so… that really only left me to watch May.” Okay, well, that did make sense and Liam kinda hated how this actually made him feel a little better somehow. “How many times have you been here before?”

“… A few.” Liam kept it at that, knowing that he couldn’t have talked himself out of this situation anyways. And maybe he also didn’t want to anymore. “Why?”

“Just wondering, you seem to know your way around and May seems very used to you being here and spending time with her. I didn’t think it was a good idea to call you when she first started asking for you, I thought she was just doing it because… but then she kinda told me you’ve been here before and that you spend a lot of time with Niall, all in between crying hysterically, so I didn’t understand everything, but… seems like my theories were right.” At least Louis had the decency to not immediately start rubbing it in Liam’s face and go all crazy. Probably only because May was sleeping though. “Are you… together?”

“We’re just… seeing where it goes.” They were, right? “It’s complicated.”

“That doesn’t sound so good. What’s complicated?” Wow, was Louis seriously concerned and serious for once?

“I mean… the obvious.” Liam shrugged, but only a little bit, very carefully adjusting May on his lap because his arm was falling asleep. “But it’s going really well, we just need to, like… discuss a few things.”

“Why aren’t you doing that?” Because Liam was a coward and he was afraid Niall would never wanna actually be with him for real? “If you already know that you have to.”

So Liam had no answer for that that wouldn’t have been embarrassing as hell, so he stayed quiet, looking down at May sleeping for a few moments. She had stopped sucking her thumb, so that was something. 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out somehow. I’ve known this would happen all along.” He sounded proud, but at least he wasn’t getting on Liam’s nerves just yet. “Kinda crazy though, like, this whole thing. And imagine being May in this scenario, she really hit the jackpot.”

“Niall said she’s less obsessed with me now since she’s met me as his friend, so… “ So that was obviously a good thing. 

“Well, see? One less problem, she seems to genuinely just love you for you then and Niall will never have to go through the trouble of dating someone his daughter doesn’t like. It was meant to be.” Louis was joking of course, and Liam just stuck to rolling his eyes, not really knowing what to say to any of this. Plus, he was kinda getting tired as well. “Do you think Niall would mind if I look into his frid-“

“Yes, stop, Tommo. You can’t do that, it’s weird enough already that we’re here.” Together, and Niall not even bloody knowing about it. 

“He said I can eat and do whatever I want.” Had he though?

“Doesn’t mean you _should_. Can you ask Harry if they’ll come back soon? And if they already know how Niall’s dad is really doing?” Liam would have asked himself, but then he would have had to explain all this to Niall and it was probably easier to just wait until he came back. This was so wrong, but Liam was almost a little bit excited he’d still get to see Niall tonight after all, but also… he just wanted to make sure he was doing okay as well. 

“I already texted him, still waiting for a reply. But I’m sure everything’s fine, they just gotta wait ages because it’s in the middle of the night.” Hopefully that was true, because Liam would have felt even guiltier for not immediately calling Niall in case it wasn’t. Not that he could have reached his phone right now. “You know what? Now we finally got time to talk about your album.”

So that’s what they did, even though Liam really didn’t want to, but he decided it was the lesser of two evils. Otherwise they would have surely been talking about him and Niall and honestly, he was counting himself lucky that Louis seemed to have decided he wasn’t going to be annoying about it. For that one night at least.

 

\--------------

 

Niall was really overwhelmed when they finally got back home, it was past one in the morning and after the relief he had felt after getting to speak to his dad and being told that everything was alright and he just had to stay for observation, he almost freaked out again in the car when Harry told him what had actually happened at home in the meantime.

“He told me he’d call if anything happened. He literally promised.” Louis was the WORST babysitter ever, hands down, but then again… at least he had called Liam to fix it. And honestly, Niall couldn’t have been more grateful for that, his conversation that he had had with Harry hours ago suddenly feeling ridiculous. 

“He just didn’t wanna stress you out, you would’ve immediately gone back home. He called Liam.” Fair enough, though that wasn’t really the same, but also whatever privacy they had had while figuring this out… it was gone. 

“May was probably asking for him when Louis didn’t call me… she probably told him everything.” Which was fine, really, it had kinda been bound to happen anyways and after this night… Niall had truly realized he needed to get himself together. There were way worse things in this world that could have happened. “ But whatever… I’m just glad my dad is okay. Thanks for coming with me.”

“Of course. I’m just glad he’s okay as well, that was quite scary.” And nerve wrecking, because of how long they had had to wait and Niall’s mother wasn’t exactly one to keep her calm either. But now it was all fine and Niall honestly just wanted to go to bed. “We’re not finishing this thing tonight, right?”

“Definitely not… I’ll work on it tomorrow morning after dropping May off at school… if she even goes to school.” She’d surely be tired and Niall felt guilty because this was his fault sort of, for just leaving her with Louis, but what choice had he had? He trusted Louis and he had been over a lot and they had known each other for almost half a year, so it’s not like Niall had a bad feeling about that, but he had never babysat May and it surely had been quite a shock to her. 

When they got back home, Niall could only barely hide his tiredness though he felt a little bit more awake once he unlocked his front door, trying to be as quiet as possible because he knew May was sleeping and that it had taken Liam quite some time to achieve that. At least according to whatever Louis had told Harry because Niall hadn’t talked to either of them. 

“Thank god, you’re back, I was about to fall asleep myself. How’s your dad?” Louis immediately came over from where he had been sitting on the couch, going straight to Harry though after Niall had told him that his dad was doing fine. He only really had eyes for Liam anyways though, because no lie, it felt really fucking good to see him right now.

Liam didn’t get up because he couldn’t move since May was sleeping on his lap and it was pulling on every single one of Niall’s heart strings to see the both of them like that, but he tried to keep it together when he sat down next to the older man, way too close considering they weren’t alone but… whatever. “Hi… thanks for coming.”

“I’m just happy I could help. Is everything okay with your dad? I’m sorry I didn’t immediately call you, I didn’t wanna worry you because of May.” The older man actually sounded very guilty, which Niall hated, because he had done more than enough here. 

“He’s alright, it was just a shock and we had to wait for ages, but they’ll discharge him tomorrow, so it’s all good… thanks for getting May back to sleep.” That had surely been quite the task, but she looked completely content and deeply asleep in Liam’s arms, so Niall didn’t worry too much about waking her when he leaned over Liam a bit to kiss her cheek and upon leaning back, their eyes met for just a moment and… well, Niall knew the other two were there as well, but he still didn’t resist the urge to kiss Liam’s cheek as well. The secret was out anyways, if it had ever really been one. 

“Well, he wouldn’t have even known if it hadn’t been for me.” Louis chirped in and Niall rolled his eyes at him, but he still felt a smile tugging on his lips, even more so when he noticed how blushed Liam had gotten from the corner of his eyes.

“Thank you so much for staying to watch her, Louis.” He had done something for Niall after all, so he didn’t wanna be ungrateful just because Louis wanted his moment of glory or something. “And for calling Liam.”

“Yeah, after May closed her door in my face I didn’t really have that much of a choice.” Had she really done that? 

“Don’t think she ever acted this way with me even when I first babysat her.” Harry joked, though May had been a lot younger then and wouldn’t have even been able to close a door by herself, but it was true nevertheless. “Anyways, I’ll get my laptop and then we’ll leave.”

“Well, you can, l-“

“We’re _both_ leaving, c’mon.” Niall threw a thankful look at Harry for dragging Louis with him to the kitchen, keeping him from staring at Niall and Liam any longer as if they were some kinda reality TV show. To be fair, they probably were to Louis somehow.

“I should leave too and let you sleep.” Liam started once the other two had left a minute later, Harry catching the front door last minute to close it carefully after Louis had almost carelessly thrown it shut. “I don’t wanna startle her by moving.”

“You could always just stay.” Niall blurted out, ignoring the fact that he himself felt a little close to passing out. “I might not hear my alarm tomorrow morning, so… “

“So you want me to stay so I can wake you instead?” The older man laughed softly, quickly stopping himself a moment later to throw a panicked look at May and Niall felt his heart growing a bit softer as he reached out to brush his fingers down Liam’s cheek. 

“I could also need an extra pillow.” Most of all though, Niall didn’t wanna be alone somehow after what had happened, and Liam was already here, so… “But I understand if you’d rather drive home.”

“Actually, I really don’t.” His face was a little blushed from Niall’s touch, but Liam still leaned over kind of unexpectedly to kiss the younger man on the lips, lingering for a bit longer than a peck. “I’m glad everything is okay with your dad… I was really worried.”

“Me too, but it’s all good, just gave me ‘nd my mom a scare. Thank you for immediately coming over when Louis called you, you really didn’t have to take care of May and you didn’t even know what’s going on.” Knowing Louis, he had just ordered Liam over without giving him any kind of information. 

“I’d do anything for her, you know that. And for you.” Liam added the second part after a second of hesitation and now it was Niall who felt his face growing a little warmer.

“I know… “ He whispered before quickly kissing Liam again to get over his embarrassment, ignoring the memories coming to his mind now, about his conversation with Harry from earlier. “We should probably go to bed… I’ll take May, wait.”

Niall was being as careful as possible lifting his sleeping daughter into his arms as he stood up, trying not to move her more than necessary. He felt terrible about what had happened, about leaving her with Louis and not even having been able to tell her that he’d leave, she had never in her life woken up expecting him to be there and not finding him or not knowing where he was. And out of all people, it had had to be Louis who she had found, someone who she had never even been alone with.

“… daddy?” May sounded as if she was sleep talking when Niall carried her to her room, barely even hearing her voice because it was so soft.

“I’m here, sweetheart, everything is okay. Go back to sleep, yeah? It’s really late.” Niall told her quietly as he put her back in her bed, her eyes not even having opened as he tucked her back in, making sure she had her bunny underneath her arm before kissing her forehead. “I love you… sleep tight.”

Closing her bedroom door as carefully as possible upon walking out, Niall felt even more terrible than before, and he actually thought about waking her just to tell her that he was back home and to apologize, but he didn’t in the end because that would have just been stupid. There was no way she’d go back to sleep soon after that.

Liam did his best trying to help Niall clean up a bit before they went to bed and Niall was so tired at this point that he didn’t think twice before completely changing his clothes in front of Liam. Whatever, like, that was the very last thing he cared about right now. 

“I feel dead.” Niall groaned after half collapsing on the bed next to Liam, feeling as if he could have fallen asleep literally within 2 seconds. But then Liam reached out to rub his back and the younger man quickly changed his mind. “I don’t know if I’ll even bring May to school tomorrow, maybe I’ll just excuse her… she’s gonna be so tired.”

“She was only up for like an hour or so I think, maybe a bit more. I have a feeling Louis kinda called me immediately.” He wasn’t the only one who had that feeling. “I, uh… I think May kinda… she told Louis a lot. Like, about me being here sometimes and stuff. Just so you know.”

“Yeah, I figured, I mean… they also just saw me kissing your cheek and I don’t think I really mind anymore what they know. Harry also asked me a few questions before Louis ever even showed up, so I gotta feeling we’ve been keeping it a secret for no reason. It’s fine though, like, I don’t mind it… do you?” Suddenly Niall wasn’t sure anymore as he turned onto his back so he could look at Liam, who was still propped up on his elbow, looking down at the younger man. 

“No, I don’t… maybe I was a little relieved actually.” Liam was admitting it slowly, as if he wasn’t quite sure how Niall’s reaction was going to be and it made the younger man smile sleepily as he reached out for Liam’s hand, squeezing, to show him that he kinda felt the same. “It really surprised me that May made Louis call me though, like… and she immediately opened her door when I asked, but she wouldn’t let him in.”

“Why does that surprise you? You spend so much more time with her, you play with her and we all do things together and I think she knows you and me have a different relationship than I do with anyone else, so… she really loves you a lot, like, not only because she’s liked you all along, but also for you.” And Niall loved that, but it also was the source of a lot of his worries and yeah, he was tired right now, but… if they always pushed this away, they’d NEVER talk about it. “I’m worried how this is gonna affect her in the long run.”

“You mean… us?” Liam didn’t seem surprised by that statement at all, but he started frowning a bit so Niall held on tighter to his hand, not wanting him to pull away as he nodded. “You know that I’d never… I’d never do anything you didn’t want. Like, in terms of us being seen together or… things like that. I can’t predict what’s going to happen, so… you really call the shots here.”

“I don’t know what to expect and… it’s stressing me out a little. Like, I always forget about it when you’re here and when we’re spending time together and then suddenly it hits me out of nowhere and I don’t know what to do.” Niall admitted, looking away from Liam while saying it though but intertwining their fingers so the other man knew that he definitely wasn’t trying to like, end this or whatever. 

“It’s your decision.” Exactly what Niall didn’t want, but he also knew that Liam was right, even if he sounded quite sad while saying it, as if he thought Niall would kick him out any moment. “Would it be different if… if I were someone else?”

“Different, yes. But not necessarily easier, so… “ It was true, maybe this was why Niall hadn’t dated anyone in so long, telling himself he was too busy and that he hadn’t met anyone who qualified. Maybe in reality he had just known it’d bring too many problems. “What do you want?”

There was some silence and Niall did look over at Liam again, but the older man was avoiding his eyes as expected, staring at their intertwined hands instead, his face definitely a bit blushed as far as Niall could tell in the poor lightning of his bedside table lamp. “I want you. But it’s not really about me… I can deal with whatever happens, I have to, but I’d never want to drag you into something and have you regret it. Of course I’d always try to keep you and May out of the papers or whatever, but… ultimately I can’t control what people say or do. So… it’s up to you.” 

“I was afraid you were gonna say that.” Niall let out a humorless laugh before sighing, not really knowing what to say right now. The fact that Liam had just blurted out with it though, that he really wanted to be with Niall, was kinda messing with his head a little. Realistically though, was Niall going to just end whatever they had? Definitely not. “I want to be with you as well, I… I just don’t know about making it public or-“

“We don’t have to.” Liam quickly interrupted him, as if he was sensing a chance or something and now Niall felt even worse because… Liam was so _eager_. “Literally never. No one has to know, like, except our friends and family and people who work with me maybe.”

“But… then we’d always have to hide and I couldn’t ever visit you anywhere.” And Niall really didn’t wanna live his life in secret, but he also didn’t wanna live it in the public eye sort of, so… there was really no good option here. 

“Sure, you can. We just wouldn’t be publicly, um, affectionate or anything, and I’d just never post any pictures with you or May and… it’d work, a lot of people I know have done that.” Probably not, but… it’s not like Niall would have judged Liam for lying right now. “And you don’t have to decide right now, I mean… we have all the time in the world.”

“I know we do, but I don’t want you to think that I don’t want… _this_.” Niall held up their hands momentarily to prove his point or something, but he immediately felt stupid about it. “I just- I’m making this so much more complicated than it has to be, don’t I?”

“You’re not, I really understand your worries.” Liam was probably lying about that as well, but it still made Niall smile. He was just too sweet. 

“I feel like we’re making all these plans now and whatever and then May is just gonna go and tell her friends or tell someone else and then everyone will know anyways.” Just like it had happened today with Louis. “But… “

“But?” Liam asked, carefully, almost as if he was afraid, and maybe it was Niall’s tiredness coming over him or he was really influenced by everything that had happened tonight, but looking at Liam right now, he decided that he just needed to get himself the fuck together.

“But until that happens… maybe we can do it like you said. And we’ll just… keep it to us, and our families and stuff, but like… still call it a relationship. Or dating or whatever, I, um, I don’t really know what word to use, umm… you know what I mean. Sorry, this was weird and I feel like some really old person now who-“

“Are you being serious?” Why was he always so surprised by these things?!

“Of course I am, Liam. Unless you don’t wanna be my boyfriend or-“

When Liam basically just shut him up with a kiss, Niall was really surprised, but he very quickly eased into it, smiling against Liam’s lips while being well aware that they weren’t going to get sleep any time soon. Also, tomorrow morning he was possibly going to get worried all over again, but he was really hoping that that would go away as time went by, because fuck… this here felt more than just right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :) 
> 
> after a little tiny bit of drama i think the chapter finished off with a happy ending! im definitely going to make a tiny time jump in the next one though now that they kinda made up their mind (finally, after only 473829 chapters in and i really apologize for that) and move on to other things/problems/whatever you wanna call it haha!
> 
> i hope you all had a great week! mine was actually quite terrible but somehow everything came together today and solved itself and i even got a B on my exam when i only aimed for a pass so im super happy because that means only 3 more exams to my bachelors degree :) (and the thesis of course but were ignoring that for now ha)
> 
> so im sending you all lots of luck for the coming week and i hope everything works out for you and dont forget to believe in yourself & take time to focus on yourself because it will pay off! and thank you for all the love on this fic <33


	13. Chapter 13

“Daddy, look!“ May shouted for probably the third time although it felt like the 500th to Niall. The flight hadn’t even been long and yet he felt somehow exhausted, and a little fidgety and overall not so great because the last time he had been on a plane… he couldn’t even remember. He had probably been May’s age or something. 

“I know, love, but remember not to shout, okay?” Not that it really mattered, they were already off the plane and walking through the airport, thank fucking god, but it still wasn’t so great for Niall’s headache. “And keep holding onto my hand, yeah? Don’t let go.”

“She’s just excited because she’s never been to a different country before.” Louis tried to defend May for some reason, and Niall threw a glare at him. “What? She’s been really good on the plane and she’s never even been on one before.”

“The flight wasn’t even 2 hours.” Also, could Louis maybe not try to undermine Niall’s authority right in front of his daughter? “How long are we gonna need to get to the hotel? Or the arena or whatever?”

“Really fucking long because you told your boyfriend we don’t need someone picking us up.” Now he was also swearing. 

“We don’t? I thought you’ve been here before, you said it wouldn’t take long.” He HAD said that and now Niall kinda wanted to cry thinking about how he had gotten up at 6 in the freaking morning and had had to endure that flight and… wow, he was really ungrateful that Liam was flying them out. 

“When I said that I didn’t think Liam would actually give in. Or that he would force me to fly out _with_ you. I mean, no offense, but Vienna wasn’t exactly my dream destin-“

“He didn’t _force_ you, you offered, and he even said you could bring Harry as well.” Who had denied immediately due to work, but probably mostly because he hadn’t felt like it. “I wouldn’t have even gotten us through security, I’ve never gone anywhere at all since I was a child, let alone by plane.”

“Okay, okay, sorry. I’m sure it won’t take that long, maybe an hour. Depends on the train times, they’re awful. At least Liam’s not famous enough to play the stadium, that’s even further out… I think. Whatever, I need a snack before we leave the airport though.” As expected.

So they did that and of course May wanted something as well, so Niall just gave in and bought her chocolate because he didn’t care anymore at this point. He made sure to text Liam to update him, maybe also a little bit to moan around the fact that he was tired and that Louis was getting on his nerves. Niall didn’t complain about the train times though, because knowing Liam, he would have sent them someone to pick them up right now. Or paid for a taxi or something, but Niall was very keen on keeping the money Liam spent on them as minimal as possible.

At least May was having the time of her entire life, Niall had never seen her this excited about absolutely _everything_ , and it made him happy but also made him feel a bit bad for never having been able to take her on vacation or outside the country before.

“I kinda… forgot how this underground system works.” Louis admitted after they had gotten off the train, having had to ask 4 different people to help with the ticket machine and for the right platform and almost getting off at every wrong station. 

“It’s the green line, it literally says it on h-“

“We don’t even know how to say the station name, or do you speak German? Thought so.” The older man sounded a little annoyed by now as well and Niall tried to keep his cool for May, but she was way more busy giving him heart attacks every couple of seconds by half running off and way too close to the train tracks until Niall picked her up. 

“Do _you_?” Or better, could he do _anything_ besides being a know it all right now? “I’m getting on the green one.”

“Niall, w- god damn it.” Louis did come after him immediately, looking as if he might have torn Niall’s head off any second. Right, this was the first and last time they would travel anywhere together, and maybe also the last time Niall told Liam he didn’t need to be picked up by a taxi. “You’re wrong.”

“I’m right and it’s only one single stop away.” Niall was only this confident really because he had done his research on his phone before on the airport train before Louis had started to express doubts, but the younger man had decided he didn’t care anymore. He really just wanted to get to Liam and have him handle everything else, not be lost in a foreign city with his boss. Also, he hadn’t seen Liam in 4 days because he had had another concert somewhere else before that and before THAT they had both been busy, so… in short, he really missed him.

Niall and Louis stopped talking after getting off at the next station and Niall having been right as expected, but he still felt a tiny bit proud. They had no problem finding the hotel because it was literally right there, but they did have to wait five minutes because May needed to be excited about the fact that they had to walk over a bridge. As if they had no bridges at home or anything, but she was just so adorable that Niall didn’t mind it of course.

“… are these… Liam’s fans?” Okay, if he hadn’t already after agreeing to come see Liam on tour, Niall really needed to stop living in denial over the fact that his boyfriend of _exactly_ one month today was a celebrity. 

“Probably, just play it cool.” What?

“Why does it matter, they don’t know who we are.” Well, maybe they knew who Louis was, a few of them at least. But then again, there were only like 10 people just standing around by the entrance and they looked rather calm and not interested in them in any way whatsoever. 

“Daddy, look, they have Liam’s-“

“Shhh, I know, May.” Niall immediately shushed his daughter when she pointed out someone wearing Liam’s merch that she had as well, but wasn’t wearing luckily. Thank god Niall had considered that helping her get dressed this morning. “I told him we’re here, he said we should talk to-“

“His bodyguard, I know. That’s why I’m saying play it cool, he’s right there inside and they probably all know his bodyguard.” Oh.

Though Louis was right, he was still being a little bit dramatic about all of it and Niall was pretty damn sure that no one magically knew who they were. Even if they did recognize Louis, no one said anything to him, and the fans also hadn’t gone inside the hotel anyways, so they couldn’t hear them talking to Liam’s bodyguard. Who, luckily, did know Louis, so that spared a lot of awkwardness as well.

He took them up the elevator and by that time, Niall did feel his nerves kicking in slightly, from excitement though obviously. Liam had been touring since almost a month now, but because it had only been European cities, he had never been gone for very long, but Niall was a little terrified all of a sudden about him going off to other continents in July and possibly being gone for weeks on end.

Which… was pretty long considering they were only officially dating since a month even though it felt like a lot longer somehow. Mostly because everyone around them was acting as if they had already known it anyways, even Zayn when Niall had told him a week later. May had never even commented seeing them kiss more than once, so that was good of course, but being here now and realizing who he was dating… Niall was maybe freaking out a little for the first time since that night really.

When Liam’s bodyguard only knocked once on Liam’s door before simply letting himself in with a key card, Niall thought it was kinda rude at first, but that feeling very quickly went away once he saw Liam. 

As much as he would have wanted to though, he wasn’t and probably would never be the very first one to get to him, no matter where they went.

“Liam!” May had immediately let go of Niall’s hand, her backpack half falling off as she ran over to him across the biggest hotel room Niall had ever seen. Should he have really been shocked at this point, really? Probably not.

“Hi, love!” Liam had the biggest smile on his face as he picked her up immediately and Niall felt his heart warming from the sight, as usual. Since they had started to spend so much more time together in that past month and Niall had even taken May to Liam’s place a few times, the little girl had grown so attached to him, Niall sometimes wondered if she thought that he was kinda her second dad or something. “I’m so happy you’re finally here. How was the flight? Was it super exciting?”

“Yeah, it was sooo cool and I got to sit by the window and we even got a snack and I wasn’t even scared, not even a little bit.” She told him over excitedly and Niall was itching to be closer to Liam also, so he ignored Louis’ whispered joke, _”You really got some competition there”_ , and walked over as well, trying not to stare too much at their surroundings. 

“I knew you wouldn’t be scared, May, I told you, you’re always so brave.” Liam had talked to her about it a few days ago when she had expressed some worries after finding out they were coming to see him in her term break and Niall had thought it had been the sweetest thing ever when Liam had calmed her. “And did your dad have fun as well?”

“I think he did.” May told Liam and Niall rolled his eyes when Liam grinned at him, already knowing that Niall wasn’t the biggest fan of airplanes. They were just too small for his liking. 

“Maybe a little bit. The last five minutes when the plane was already on the ground again.” Niall settled for that as Liam slowly put May back down when the younger man came closer. “Hi.”

“Hi, babe.” When Liam reached out to pull Niall in and kiss him on the lips, Niall could’ve honestly forgotten where they were, that May was pulling on his shirt and that Louis was watching them as well, because he had truly missed Liam so freaking much. “I’m so glad you came.”

“Me too.” Niall half whispered against his lips, still holding onto him when May interrupted.

“Me too!” She threw in, making them laugh a little as they pulled apart, but Liam kept his arm around Niall’s waist so the younger man let himself fall into Liam’s side, feeling himself becoming calmer once again. 

“I’d say I’m relieved we’re finally here as well, but I feel like I’m interrupting this family reunion a bit.” Louis had already started eating the food Liam had gotten, sitting on the armchair of one of the chairs and just watching them. 

“If we would’ve done what you said we wouldn’t even be here yet.” It was true, they’d be on the complete opposite end of the city.

“I didn’t say anything, I just thought maybe we should’ve not gotten on the first line we’ve seen.” Niall just rolled his eyes at that and Liam laughed, holding him a bit tighter as he kissed the side of Niall’s head.

“Now that you had that very lovely experience, can I get you a car next time?” Well…

“It wasn’t that bad though, and we also didn’t take _that_ lo-“

“Because it was kinda easy, but not every city is like this.” Louis interrupted so Niall shut his mouth because he was afraid they’d start a fight right in front of May, who had stopped pulling on his clothes and seemed very content just latching onto Liam’s free hand now. When Niall had told her they’d go visit him, she had almost burst into tears. And he along with her had he really gotten into it. “Anyways, what’s with this hotel room? It’s a fu- freaking suite, that table would serve like 10 people.”

“Twelve.” Liam told him in the most serious voice ever and Niall laughed at the other man’s facial expression following that. “I don’t choose where I stay, I just said I needed one with an extra bedroom. I think the one they got for you looks the same by the way, I’ve got your keycard here.”

“It better, after babysitting your boyfriend I could need a nap.” Louis joked, although Niall wasn’t quite sure whether there was at least a little bit of seriousness in his voice. Whatever, it’s not like he cared. 

“We gotta go to the venue soon though, soundcheck. Unless you don’t wanna come.” He had probably seen Liam perform 10000 times before. 

“I might just come a bit later, I got almost everyone’s number anyways. ‘sides, you guys probably gotta celebrate your one month anniversary or something.” How did he know that? According to Liam’s blushed cheeks though, Niall already had his answer a second later. Right. “I told Harry I’d call him once I arrived as well and I’d offer to watch May but-“

“Daddy, I wanna stay with you and Liam.” May immediately interrupted before Louis had even had the chance to finish his sentence, but she very quickly added something else then, as if she was afraid she had hurt Louis’ feelings. “But Louis, are you coming to the concert too?”

“Of course I am, don’t worry, May-bear. I’ll see you all in a bit, okay?” Louis then got the keycard from Liam and ruffled May’s hair before leaving the hotel room, winking at Niall in the most provoking way but the other man chose to ignore it anyways. He was finally with Liam again, he didn’t care about anything else. 

“Are you hungry? You can take anything you see, or we can also look at room service.” Liam offered almost as soon as they were alone and Niall finally dropped his backpack and helped May to take her hoodie off. It was almost June, but this morning and on the plane hadn’t been all too warm. “There’ll also be loads when we get to the venue.”

“We already had a snack, thanks though. Maybe May can eat some fruit.” Niall said it while looking at her and she looked like she wanted to complain, but then didn’t in the end.

Actually, Niall had been about to go and do it himself, but Liam was already on it a second later, getting her a bowl and putting in some grapes and strawberries, even taking the green bits off for her and just watching him made Niall wanna go over and kiss him some more. He kept it together though until May was eating, sitting on a chair next to Liam.

“I really missed you.” Niall had waited about two seconds before walking over and wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck from behind, half whispering against his skin after kissing his cheek, and then below his ear also just because he could, breathing him in. 

“I really missed you too, Nialler… “ Liam told him, almost immediately holding onto the younger’s wrist to keep him where he was, thumb brushing over the back of Niall’s hand as he turned his head a little. “How was the flight and everything? Are you tired?”

“It was fine, I guess. Not my fave thing, but… alright. And I was really tired before, but it’s gotten better since we arrived.” Since he had seen Liam more like. “You’re probably a lot more exhausted… have you even gotten any sleep last night?”

“A bit, I’m doing good though. Especially now that you’re here.” Liam told him with a soft laugh that caused Niall’s stomach to grow warm as he looked at Liam before kissing him on the mouth, only briefly though because of course May found a reason to interrupt right at this second. 

They only stayed for a little while, but Liam still ended up pulling Niall onto his lap for a few minutes while talking to May, answering her 1 billion questions about the hotel room and the concert and whatever else came to her mind. Niall decided to change his clothes after all, trying not to freak out completely once he had seen every room including BOTH bedrooms. This was even more crazy than the hotel they had been at for their first date. He still made sure to take pictures for his mother though, of course.

He had to admit that taking a car with Liam was much more relaxing than somehow getting to places by underground, especially in a foreign country. Letting Liam’s team handle absolutely everything was really nice, and the only thing Niall worried about was having a car seat for May, which turned out had been absolutely unnecessary. _Of course_ Liam had sent someone to buy one as soon as Niall had told him they’d come, days ago. He was truly perfect, how was that even possible?

“They’re really waving at the car, I thought the windows are tainted.” Niall was slightly worried once the car was leaving the hotel garage although Liam’s fans seemed rather behaved. 

“They are, that’s why they’re waving. I already went out to meet them a few hours ago in the morning though, there were a lot more of them then.” Right, Niall had even seen pictures of that when he had gotten bored at the airport. 

“But now everyone knows where your hotel is.” Which was a little worrying to Niall somehow, but then again, it didn’t seem to be a problem.

“Somehow everyone always seems to know that anyways. But they’re probably waiting in line at the venue already. Generally though, there are some cities where people never really recognize me on the streets even if I do sightseeing. This is one of them.” It was kinda crazy to Niall, to hear him explain all that while they were literally in the car with him when there were so many people out there right now who would have killed to be in the same place. May actually having been one of them and now she had gotten used to it so quickly, she was content just looking out of the window. “So we’re gonna have lots of fun tomorrow before we go home, right, May? Are you excited?”

“Yeah! But I’m also excited for the concert.” She told Liam, and Niall thought it was really sweet actually that she still seemed to care about his music as well even though she had been so focused on just him before all this. “Me and daddy can watch, right?”

“Of course! Why would I even have this concert without my two number one fans watching, huh?” Liam joked to make her smile, winking at Niall for what he had said and the younger man playfully rolled his eyes as he smirked. “And you can see everything before anyone else can come inside, even the stage if you want to.”

“I want to!” Now May was of course even more excited because Niall had made sure to keep her expectations as low as possible. He had already known though that Liam would once again go way beyond, because… it was _Liam_.

Taking the car was really nice, because Niall could actually see a bit of the city although the drive wasn’t long at all. They also got a glimpse of the masses of people already waiting outside, which was once again a mind blowing thing for Niall. To think that they were here for the man who was sitting beside him in the car, holding his hand while talking to his daughter about her school, the same man Niall regularly woke up next to in his tiny apartment and cooked breakfast for. 

“Here, put that on, just in case you go somewhere without me.” Liam gave Niall a lanyard, putting one over May’s head as well after lifting her out of the car once they were in yet another underground garage. “So they know you’re allowed to be backstage and stuff.”

“Why do you have one as well?” Niall questioned as they followed someone from Liam’s team, who Liam had introduced to Niall just a moment ago, straight up introducing Niall as his boyfriend. So then the woman’s smile had suddenly gotten even wider and Niall’s cheeks a little hotter. This was still kinda new, especially because he had never visited Liam in a setting like this before.

“A lot of people from the venue work here as well, they don’t all know me and stuff, they’ve got different events every couple days.” Right, made sense. “That’s why I don’t really like when Louis comes later because it usually complicates things a bit, but he does it all the time when he visits me, so… he’ll be fine. And if they don’t let him in… well.”

“It was really nice of him to offer to come with me and May though.” Niall decided to defend Louis a bit, but Liam just seemed amused over it anyways so he let it be with that once sentence, instead focusing on everything else going on around them. This was truly overwhelming, like, it didn’t even feel real somehow, to suddenly be on the other side of everything after Niall had taken May to concerts in the past.

Liam introduced Niall to probably 10 or more people, showing them his dressing room and stuff like that, which was a lot more exciting to May than to Niall probably, but of course he was impressed as well. Now at least he had kind of a better sense of what Liam did when he went on tour, what his routine was like and stuff. 

It was also kinda fascinating to watch him during soundcheck, seeing the empty venue and the stage and all that, being allowed on it. Liam wasn’t actually doing much, just testing the microphone and singing a few songs, so he took May with him while Niall just sat somewhere watching them dance and chase each other across the stage while the older man tried to sing at the same time, but it probably wasn’t working the same as usual. Not that anyone said anything.

Niall made sure to send a video to his mother, and some pictures, because even though she liked Liam and had accepted that Niall was dating him, it couldn’t hurt to show her exactly how much he tried to involve May and spend time with her. And it didn’t even seem as if he minded in any way, it rather looked as if he was actually having fun doing it. Plus, everyone on his team was really nice as well, especially to May, so now Niall felt kinda weird about having been nervous about this.

“Do you need headphones for her? During the concert, I mean.” Liam asked once they were alone in his dressing room again, but people kept coming in and out, so it wasn’t really privacy. Didn’t stop Liam from constantly having his arm around Niall though and pulling him close on the couch while May was running around the room playing with some toy horse she had brought along with her. 

“Maybe, yeah, that’d probably be better, thanks.” Niall had had some last time if he recalled correctly, he hadn’t even thought about that today. “It’s gonna be weird seeing you up there now, once everyone’s inside and stuff… “

“Why?” Liam sounded amused, squeezing Niall a bit.

“Because I know what you look like half asleep in the morning and lying on my living room floor playing Barbie.” And in so many more situations.

“… it’s also gonna be weird seeing you in the crowd.” The older man told him after thinking about it for a moment, nodding a bit. “You know… I was thinking, I could bring May on stage for a song or so, pretend she’s one of the Meet and Greet winners, no one would question it. I’ll put you right by the stage anyways, with the people who got some special tickets or whatever, so it’d be easy. Only if you’re okay with it of course.”

“I… “ Niall started as he tried to process that information, May luckily having gotten caught up looking at something all the way across the room, not listening to them. “I don’t know.”

“I totally don’t have to, I just thought maybe she’d enjoy it.” She surely would, although… maybe she would have also gotten shy? Like, Niall truly couldn’t predict what was going to happen in case Liam truly did that. 

“I think… I think maybe it wouldn’t be the best idea, people would probably take videos or pictures and I told her she’s not allowed to talk to her friends about any of this, so… “ So short, it would have only made things more complicated just for a brief moment of happiness for May. When she was already happy as could be. “Thank you though, for thinking about all this stuff. She’s truly having the best time ever.”

“No worries, it’s no trouble, you know that. And I like seeing her happy as well, I guess I’m lucky it’s so easy for me to do all this.” True, even if May hadn’t loved him from the very start, Liam would have never had to try and get her to like him by making too much of an effort. Although he was still walking the extra mile and surprised Niall over again. 

“Just watch out so she won’t use it to her advantage one day, once it all becomes less special.” Niall joked, although maybe there was some truth to it. After all, May had gotten so used to Liam coming over that she would sometimes complain on days when he didn’t. Typical 6-year-old behavior though, so Niall wasn’t too worried. 

“Does that mean you’d come visit me on tour again?” When Liam asked there was a smile on his face that made Niall feel a little hot, because the fact that the older man seemed to want them with him on tour so badly… it honestly made Niall feel bad that they hadn’t done this sooner. That he hadn’t been able to agree on a date for so long, it’s just… life always got in the way. 

“Of course, if it all works out with school and work and stuff.” Meaning… Niall didn’t wanna make false promises. He was lucky today would have been a day off for him anyways and that tomorrow he had been able to take a vacation day and that May was on term break.

Before Liam could have answered, May was suddenly running over to them, climbing on the couch and half on Liam’s lap, complaining that she was getting hungry, so that became the number one priority, but Niall was still happy to see the smile on Liam’s face after what he had said. Hopefully he’d really be able to stick to that.

 

\--------------------

 

Liam had made sure to plan everything out into detail even though he didn’t really tell Niall, he was just a little worried that something would go wrong because there were so many people backstage and things got crazy sometimes and he just wanted Niall and especially May to have a good time. So he was really relieved when Louis FINALLY arrived to spend time with them while Liam went off to the Meet and Greet. He was a little chaotic sometimes, but he had done this hundreds of times before as well, so Liam trusted him.

Having Niall there, right by the stage in the crowd, made Liam more nervous than he would have thought. Not in a bad way or anything, and there were moments where he forgot about it of course, but throughout the concert he couldn’t help but stare at him and May, make sure they were having fun and stuff, so the people around them obviously really enjoyed Liam going to that corner quite often.

There was always a bit of a rush afterwards, so Liam had made sure that someone would get Niall and May backstage again once he had left the stage, not liking Louis’ idea of the three of them going back separately to the hotel because there’d be even more people now than this morning. So yeah, all this had required quite a bit of planning and Liam had been kinda nervous something would go wrong, but that had definitely been WAY worth what he got for it.

If it had gone after him, he would have always wanted Niall and May with him, no matter where he went, because being away for multiple days in a row when they had only really been dating for a month… it definitely took a toll on Liam. 

“Liam, we gotta get to th-“

“Yeah, I know, but we gotta wait for Niall.” Liam was set on not leaving without them even though he knew that they would have been fine with Louis as well and he had introduced Niall to almost everyone from his team, but still. “Where is Louis? Did he stay backstage?”

“I think so. The first half at least.” Someone told him and honestly, Liam wasn’t surprised and also not upset, he was aware that the older man had only come because he had asked him to. Plus… he had probably seen way too many of Liam’s shows anyways. 

Luckily, Liam didn’t have to stay sweaty and worried for very much longer though it sure as hell seemed like it. And Louis had even taken the time to bring Niall and May back to find him instead of just letting someone from Liam’s team do it like they had discussed.

“Hey, there you are, how was it?” Liam first saw May because she was still full of energy running towards him, making him smile as she immediately wrapped her arms around him, as far as she could reach before pulling away to look up at him with the widest grin. It was so easy to make her happy and Liam was somehow addicted to doing exactly that. 

“So cool! I was never this close before and it was so much fun and did you see, I knew all the lyrics!” She proudly told Liam as Niall and Louis were coming closer.

“Of course I saw that, you’re a pro, you probably know them better than I do at this point.” She probably truly did, especially today because there had at least been 2 times where Liam had almost forgotten either what he had wanted to say or sing, both times from getting caught looking at Niall. “Are you not even tired?”

“Nope!” May told him, sounding quite convincing as well despite the fact that it was already after 10 at night or something. Honestly, Liam didn’t even know.

“Well, sounds like you guys are gonna have a lot of fun staying up the whole night then.” Louis joked as he came closer, but Liam ignored him anyways because he was a lot more focused on Niall of course, make sure he had had fun as well.

“And, was it as weird as you thought it would be?” Liam laughed when Niall rolled his eyes, coming over to Liam to unexpectedly kiss his cheek, completely ignoring how gross he probably was right now and that only caused Liam to feel hotter than he already was after being on stage. 

“Even weirder. But we had lots of fun, right, bug?” Niall asked his daughter, and of course she agreed over excitedly, stretching her arms out towards Liam. 

“Yes! Can you carry me? Pleeease?” She made the kinda face that Liam could have never said no to, even though he knew Niall was about to intervene and Louis was laughing at how quickly Liam complied, not minding it though when he picked her up. Niall always told him he needed to truly say no once a while, that Liam carried her around 10 times more than he did himself and that she was already 6 and could walk on her own, but… how was Liam supposed to say no when he didn’t mind and when it made her so happy? “You’re sweaty.”

“Yeah, I know, sorry.” May didn’t seem to care though, she had simply pointed it out, and now Liam was glad that they were again being urged to get to the car once more because he definitely needed a shower. 

Because May was really light, Liam had no trouble carrying her with only one arm, somehow automatically reaching over to Niall with his free hand and the younger man intertwined their fingers immediately as they walked to the car. Honestly, Liam had kinda never felt more content coming off of stage, even after a really good night.

They had one of the big cars, so they all fit in it and luckily someone had thought about a car seat for May and Liam sat next to her after putting her in it, Niall and Louis behind them because there wasn’t too much space left. Which was fine of course, because it was only really for a few minutes but Liam still had kind of an urge to reach back to Niall. He didn’t though, that would have been ridiculous.

“… what are you doing?” Niall asked Louis in the backseat when the car started and Liam almost turned around, but he suddenly realized he hadn’t put May’s seatbelt on correctly, so he made sure to fix that instead.

“Listening to a voice message Harry sent me… wait, I gotta answer real quick.” This was so Louis, the fact that they were all about to become witness of that as well. “… yeah, so the concert is over, we’re in the car right now, Niall says hi, Liam doesn’t, a-“

“Hi, Harry.” Liam threw in, just to annoy Louis, but it didn’t seem as if he cared anyways.

“-nd it all went fine, Niall didn’t get lost, yet, but I’ll update you if he does. They’re totally excluding me the whole time and acting like a family, it’s- Niall!” Apparently Niall had done something to interrupt Louis and end his voice message, the younger man just laughing at him when he complained. “That is so rude, I’m your boss.”

“So? I don’t want Harry to think you were being serious.” Even if they HAD been excluding Louis, he would have wanted it that way anyways, he very obviously couldn’t wait to go home tomorrow morning, before everyone else. Liam would have gotten him an earlier flight, but then that would have felt rude, as if he had just wanted him there to bring Niall here safely. “Are you firing me now?”

“I would if I could, Liam would beat my ar-“

“Shhh.” Liam was kinda surprised by his own immediate reaction, already having half reached out to cover May’s ears as he interrupted the older man, turning around just to glare at him.

“Jesus Christ, you’re really the most terrible people to spend time alone with.” Well… maybe he was right. A little bit. But also… it made Liam slightly proud, because somehow this was exactly what he wanted to hear from someone looking at them from the outside. “Maybe me and May should watch a few movies and stay up all night.”

“Yay!” May was of course all for it and now Niall would be the bad guy for not allowing it, even though Louis had clearly been joking. 

“You’re going to be so tired once we get back, May.” Niall tried, though that had been bound to fail anyways.

“No, I won’t.” May simply told him, so Liam quickly decided to step in to try and make it easier for Niall somehow. 

“We can watch something in bed when we get back.” He offered, though not sure if Niall would want that, but she’d probably fall asleep fairly soon anyways. And maybe Liam was playing a little bit on the fact that he knew May would have been a lot more likely to wanna spend time with him than Louis. “Or… we could also go to bed so we won’t be tired tomorrow morning when we do lots of stuff.”

“I don’t wanna go to bed though, I’m not going to be tired.” Right.

“Nice try.” Louis laughed from the back somewhere, though this was entirely HIS fault, but he didn’t really try to fix it during the rest of the car ride and Liam and Niall eventually gave up on trying to talk May into feeling tired as well. She HAD to be tired, it was way past her bedtime and by the time they’d get her into a bed… there was no way she’d be up for much longer.

When they got back, May was still a little hyper and everything, but Niall told Liam to just go shower and do his thing when they got back up to the room and that he’d handle it and get her ready for bed. So Liam did that because he really needed a shower anyways and he kinda found himself wishing Niall would have come to join him considering how massive it was but… they had never really… done anything like this. Liam was being careful about it as well because he was afraid of rushing Niall into something he didn’t want. 

Luckily they had an extra bedroom for May, so Liam went there after he had gotten redressed and everything, finding Niall half asleep on top of the covers next to May, who was wide awake and tucked in, reading some book to her. 

“… and the bunny-“

“Wait, you missed that part.” May interrupted Niall’s very slow reading and Liam stayed in the doorway for a moment to watch them, suddenly so grateful that they were here, that he wouldn’t have to come back to an empty hotel room all by himself tonight. That he wouldn’t even have to sleep alone.

“Oh… yeah, sorry.” Niall sighed before swallowing, probably getting ready to re-read the entire page, but then his eyes landed on Liam, who had tried to stay quiet so he wouldn’t disturb them. “Do you also want a bedtime story?”

“I’d love one.” Liam joked as he walked over, sitting on the side of the bed Niall was lying on, putting his hand on the younger’s leg. “But I can also read it instead if you’re about to fall asleep.”

“Actually… that’d be great.” Niall agreed immediately, just like Liam had expected, suddenly looking a lot more awake as he sat up. “Is that okay, May? I’ll just go shower real quick.”

May didn’t seem to care one bit, she might have actually looked a little excited when Liam swapped places with Niall, not before kissing him briefly though. Maybe not the best idea, because it only made him want more and he couldn’t have that right now because the younger man was about to leave. 

Right when Liam was getting ready to pick up where Niall had left off though once they were alone, the little girl suddenly seemed a bit more interested in other things. 

“I’ve never seen my daddy kiss anybody before.” She just said it, and Liam had to swallow hard for a second because he was suddenly a little afraid what else was to come. 

“Yeah?” Liam asked, though he had known Niall hadn’t dated anyone since he had had May, and the younger man had also told him exactly what he had or hadn’t done in all those years so… needless to say, Liam had felt bad about how different their experiences had been. Niall had told him that he didn’t care though, that it only mattered what was happening now, not before they had ever even met.

“Yeah. My friends’ parents kiss too and it’s because they’re in love.” Right, THIS was what Liam had been afraid of, but thank god Niall wasn’t here to become witness of his face getting increasingly hotter. “I think my daddy loves you.”

“Well, um… “ Liam started, clearing his throat, not knowing what to answer to that. May had kinda just ignored whenever they had started to become more affectionate in front of her, and Niall had surely talked to her about it as well, so maybe it was Liam’s own fault for never having mentally prepared himself for conversations like that. “I mean, he also loves you, and his friends and-“

“No, but I mean different… like different when you get married. Are you gonna marry my daddy?” Liam was going to DIE.

“Uhh… usually people only get married when they’ve known each other for a really long time.” He tried to talk himself out of having to give a real answer, moving a bit on the bed though he was very well aware of May’s stare the entire time. “Like… years.”

“How many years?” May kept pushing, and then, when Liam didn’t answer immediately, she moved on to ask an even harder question. “Do you love my daddy?”

“I… “ Liam started, briefly looking at her and then without really thinking it through, he just blurted out with it. “Yeah, of course.”

“So you wanna marry him in a few years?” Okay, could Niall come back now?! 

“I don’t know, um… we have to talk about that. Not everyone gets married.” They didn’t, right? But also, Liam didn’t wanna say something wrong when he had no idea what Niall wanted him to say, or what he had told May in terms of like, relationships. Jesus Christ, he hadn’t been prepared for this, at all, especially not tonight after a concert. 

“Would you be my second daddy if you get married?” How had this situation just gotten even worse?!

For a moment, Liam thought about somehow talking himself out of this whole thing, but then he remembered he was an adult, and this was a little girl who he was actually supposed to be reading bedtime stories to, so he decided to get himself the hell together, sit up more straight and actually looked at her. “I think you should talk to your dad about all these things instead of me. I think he’d want you to ask him instead, because he’s your dad, you know? But I do like him very much, and I also like spending time with the two of you at home and have you with me on tour.”

May seemed to think about it for a moment because her face was quite concentrated and Liam found himself holding his breath a little, afraid of what else was going to come. But turned out that his whole nervousness had been for nothing. “Okay. Can we read the book now?”

“I- yeah, of course. Do you want to read?” Liam offered immediately, relief spreading through him as he got into a better position when May shook her head at an instant so he could read instead. He’d definitely have to warn Niall about all this, and now he was slightly distracted while reading to May, but she didn’t seem to take any notice of that whatsoever.

She didn’t fall asleep, and it actually probably made Liam more tired than her because all his energy from earlier on stage was slowly wearing out. By the time Niall came back, Liam probably looked very much like he had before, their places kinda switched a bit.

Liam didn’t interrupt his reading when Niall came in, he just threw a quick look at him as the older man simply came over to the bed as well, lying down next to Liam and resting his head on his shoulder, just listening to him as well. At this rate, they’d both be passed out and May would still be wide awake. 

“Can we read another one?” May sounded very hopeful as soon as Liam had finished, almost wanting to let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s really late, it’s way past your bedtime, love. You really need to try and sleep now.” Niall thankfully jumped in, sitting up a bit so he could reach over Liam and tuck May in again. 

“But I’m not tired.” She complained, pouting her lips when she noticed that her dad wasn’t really very impressed by that statement.

“You’ll get tired once we turn the lights off and you close your eyes, I promise. Also, we have to get up early tomorrow and you don’t wanna be tired then, right?” The only ones tired would be Niall and Liam probably, but yeah. “And I think you still have something to say to Liam before we leave.”

“Thank you for letting us come to the concert.” May told him, sounding a bit as if she had rehearsed it and she also took a moment before she continued, after Niall had very obviously thrown a look at her and Liam had to bite back a laugh. “And for reading to me.”

“You’re welcome, May. I’m just glad that you had so much fun.” Liam would have done even more, but he always made sure to check with Niall beforehand, knowing that he didn’t like Liam spoiling her too much. “I think you’re gonna sleep really good tonight if you try, I always sleep really good after a concert. And you were on stage before as well, so I’m sure you’ll sleep in in no time as well.”

“Hmmm… I don’t know.” May sounded very honest when she said it and Liam had to smile upon hearing Niall sigh next to him, still half leaning on him. “What if Louis-“

“You’ll see him again tomorrow morning, he’s probably already asleep as well.” Niall made sure to tell her because no doubt, she had been about to bring up the movie thing again. “Okay, close your eyes now.”

Liam got off the bed as well as soon as Niall moved, letting the older man say goodnight to his daughter and kiss her, before he went over as well to ruffle her hair a bit, wish her sweet dreams also despite her not so happy face when they left her. 

“Literally how is she not tired?” Niall was whispering as soon as he had closed the door behind them and Liam suppressed a laugh as he pulled the younger man close, not even waiting until they had gone to the other bedroom to kiss his forehead. 

“I have no idea. All I know is I really need to go and lie down now.” Just holding Niall like this and not doing anything was almost making Liam wanna fall asleep while standing up straight although he was kinda certain that in case Niall wanted to snog a bit in bed, he’d definitely be more awake again in a few minutes. 

“Me too… I almost got lost before, because this whole thing is so big and I didn’t bother turning on the lights.” Niall admitted once they had managed to part and Liam made sure to intertwine their fingers even though it was only for a few seconds. 

“It’s not _that_ b-“

“It really is, Liam. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, which doesn’t say a lot really, but… I still can’t believe that hotels like this even exist.” Somehow it made Liam feel guilty whenever he noticed how out of ordinary all of this was to Niall, and how normal it had almost become to him through the years. It was like… almost a slap in the face sometimes, to realize that maybe he hadn’t remained quite as unaffected as he would have liked. “It’s like, twice the size of my flat.”

“I don’t think it is… besides, it may be big and stuff, but it still doesn’t quite feel like you’d wanna actually… _live_ here for a longer time.” Liam had to know, because he had done exactly that for years now, and he would have preferred Niall’s place any day. Not only because of him, even though that was obviously the main reason. “It gets lonely. I mean, not with you and May here but… “

“Is that your way of telling me we need to come visit you more often?” The younger man laughed a bit when they finally entered the bigger bedroom, but there was a soft smile on his face when he slowly let go of Liam’s hand. 

“You know I’d have you come with me every single day, but I know that’s not possible and I really don’t wanna stress you out or anything thinking I’m getting lonely or something, I’ll be fine. But whenever you wanna come, y’know… “ Then Liam would be happy to fly him and May out, anywhere in the world really. “Just let me know.”

“I will. It’s just hard when I don’t have a fixed schedule.” Niall almost sounded a bit apologetic when they both got into bed and underneath the blanket they shared, not hesitating before already moving closer towards the older man. “I’m really happy we made it work though, it was kinda… surreal as hell to see you perform on that stage. I mean, I’ve seen you before, twice actually, but… “

“It was also weird to see you in the crowd. A good kinda weird though.” Liam admitted as he pulled the younger man closer, as close as possible. Damn, he was so grateful that Niall was here, he couldn’t even believe it. “I think the only one who was just excited was May.”

“Yeah… she was truly having the time of her life. Thank you so much for trying so hard with her and making her so happy, it really means a lot to me. Like… obviously she’s liked you before, but now she really loves you as someone who spends time with her as well and you’re so good with her. Even better than anyone else who I’ve let babysit… besides my parents. Although… you don’t secretly give her candy, so… “ He laughed, his hand rubbing across Liam’s chest and stomach, giving him goosebumps even though his shirt was in between. 

“As far as you know.” Liam joked before remembering something completely different. “No, but… I really like playing with her and stuff, I genuinely don’t mind any of it. I’ve never really had that much to do with kids before, only brief encounters, but… never like this. But I enjoy it, and I like making her happy and I suppose I’m really lucky it’s so easy for me to do and that she likes me. I, um… I wanted to tell you something though.”

“Okay, what?” Niall sat up a bit so he could look at Liam, so the older man of course immediately looked away though there really wasn’t a reason to.

“So… when you were in the bathroom before… May kinda asked a few questions. About you and me, like… whether we’re in love and whether we’re gonna get married and… I told her it’s better if she discusses these things with you because I didn’t wanna say anything wrong, so… just to warn you.” Okay, now that Liam was saying it out loud he truly felt like a coward, but it had just been so unexpected.

“Oh, okay. I thought you were gonna tell me something really bad because of how red you’ve gotten.” The younger man sounded amused and Liam regretted looking at him to see that grin on his face because it only made it worse somehow. “But thanks for not saying you’re definitely planning on marrying me and that you’re deadly in love with me because she would have never stopped talking about that. And asking when the wedding is gonna be.”

“Yeah, well, I just… I said that people don’t have to necessarily get married and, um… not that I’m trying to say that I wouldn’t, I- you know what? I’ll just shut up now.” He had also told May that he loved Niall, but that was truly besides the point right now, right? “Oh my god, stop laughing, Niall!”

“I can’t help it, you’re just too cute.” The younger man chuckled, leaning in to kiss Liam’s cheek, of course making him even more blushed. “She’s just a little girl, Li, you don’t have to be so afraid of what you say, sometimes she just asks stuff and forgets about it a second later.”

“I just don’t wanna say something you don’t agree with.” Liam defended himself, rolling his eyes at Niall because he still seemed so damn amused. 

“Tell you what, you probably couldn’t. And even if you say something I wouldn’t have said doesn’t mean it’s wrong or that it’s going to cause her to become traumatized or something. It’s all good, just say whatever you feel is right, for future reference.” Niall sounded very genuine this time when Liam looked at him again, not knowing what to say for a moment when their eyes met. “Can I kiss you now or do you have more secrets to share?”

“I think… I think I’m done now.” The older man was a little surprised, but also relieved that Niall truly didn’t seem to care about whatever May was asking. Then again, she was his daughter, he was probably used to it.

Niall didn’t even take two seconds before he leaned in to kiss Liam on the mouth, seemingly even more eager than the older man had been, if that was even possible. As predicted, Liam’s tiredness kinda washed away on an instant and he made sure to hold on tighter to his boyfriend, his hands grabbing onto anything they could reach just to avoid any kind of distance.

They took it somewhat slow at first, the kiss soft and gentle before Niall moved half on top of Liam, his tongue prying open the older’s lips and of course Liam complied immediately. He had done this before of course, through the years, have people he had dated on tour with him and all that stuff, but it had never really been like this. Not only because Niall was… well, far away from Liam’s fame and their lives were so different, but also because of _him_ , as a person. 

It felt more serious to Liam than anything else before because he knew Niall wouldn’t have just played around with this, that Liam had to mean a great deal to him if he trusted him this much, even with his daughter. So in return, of course it made Liam wanna try even harder as well, make sure that this was what they both wanted and that Niall knew he was being serious, about all of it. 

When Niall’s hand slowly moved underneath Liam’s shirt after they had been snogging for a while and Liam could feel his lunges screaming for air, it surprised him so much that HE was the one to break the kiss this time. 

“Sorry, I th-“

“No, no, it’s okay.” Liam immediately panicked as Niall retracted his hand again, thinking he had messed it up now, whatever this had been about to be. “Really, whatever you wanna do.”

“Okay.” Niall let out a breathless laugh before connecting their lips again, putting his hand back where it had been and honestly, it was almost embarrassing how quickly Liam reacted to the skin on skin contact, Niall’s fingers brushing over his side and his stomach, up to his chest, all while his tongue was exploring the older’s mouth. 

To think that they had both been about to fall asleep just minutes ago seemed a little ridiculous.

Suddenly it was super hard for Liam to concentrate on kissing Niall back when he had his hands all over him, pushing his shirt up and moving even closer to him, pressing into his side while his tongue was moving against Liam’s, nothing audible in the room except the sheets moving a bit and their spit slicked lips meeting over and over again. 

Honestly, Liam was trying his very best to somehow keep it together, not hold on too tightly to the younger man and maybe even risk hurting him or something, but it almost seemed impossible, especially because, well… he had definitely been craving this for a while now, weeks actually. So when Niall suddenly broke the kiss a little, keeping his forehead pressed against Liam’s though and rubbing their noses together for a moment as they struggled to catch their breaths with closed eyes, what came out of his mouth almost sounded like straight up heaven to Liam.

“I… I was thinking… “ The younger man started, before interrupting himself just to kiss Liam again, deepening the kiss for just a moment though, his hand so far underneath Liam’s shirt now that it felt stupid that he was even still wearing anything at all. “Maybe… we could try something.”

“Yeah… anything you want.” Liam half whispered back without even thinking about it, not even caring what it was that Niall wanted because for him… he wanted everything. But in Niall’s pace of course, because he wanted them both to enjoy themselves equally and really be ready for it. Plus, he knew Niall had don’t anything like this with anybody since he had been a teenager really, so this was almost completely new for him.

“You’re so eager… “ Niall chuckled quietly against the older man’s lips, kissing him yet again but really softly and slowly this time before continuing in between breaths. “I don’t know if… if I’m ready to go all the way yet, but… “

“It’s fine… I don’t care how long we wait or… or whatever. We can do anything you want.” Liam told him as quickly as his lack of breath was allowing him, not being able to help his heart immediately beating a hundred times faster though, just at the thought. Well, and from Niall’s hands roaming over his naked body and them snogging, so maybe that made his excitement a little less embarrassing. “Or… or you can change your mind again or… stop whenever you want… it’s all up to you.”

“Okay… “ The younger man whispered back before leaning down again so they could kiss some more and Liam felt him smiling against his lips so he held on tighter to him, deciding to let Niall go at his own pace though and take his time, for as long as he wanted. 

They’d already be tired as hell in the morning anyways, so why not make it worth it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :)
> 
> im sorry i had to cut it off there right before the smut, but seeing as this is their first time ever taking it further i didnt just wanna rush into it because the chapter was already at 10K and i decided to move that over into the next chapter! i still hope you all enjoyed this one anyways, please let me know your thoughts if you feel like it <3
> 
> also i just quickly wanna say i chose vienna as destination because thats where i study so i actually pictured a hotel in the city which i know celebrities really stay at when they come for concerts, and it really is the green line that leads there and the bridge and everything haha! but seriously, i googled the rooms for that hotel and they are... bloody insane! they are so freaking big theyre like whole apartments with different rooms and stuff, i was too afraid to look at the prices lmao! anyways if anyone wants to know what it looks like just for fun heres a link haha: so-vienna.com/en/rooms-suites/so-vip/
> 
> i hope youre all gonna have a great week and an amazing weekend, love you guys & thank you for the continued support!!!


	14. Chapter 14

“Are you… are you sure you want this?“ Liam had asked this question so many times in the past few minutes that Niall almost wanted to laugh. He didn’t though, because he was out of breath from all the snogging and distracted from the way he could taste Liam in his mouth, the older’s fingers against his skin and the sweet expression on his face. The fact that he cared so damn much made Niall’s heart swell.

“Li… “ Niall mumbled while looking down at him, stroking his cheek with the back of his fingers, a little just to watch him go all red and blushed even though he already was anyways. “I want you. And unless you wanna stop-“

“I really, really don’t. Just making sure it’s not going too fast for you.” The older man quickly interrupted, looking slightly embarrassed right after and Niall laughed quietly, pressing another kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, lingering a bit longer than planned. 

“Thank you for being so cute.” He truly meant it, Niall couldn’t remember anyone ever being this concerned about his well being regarding things like that and… it felt really damn nice, because usually he was the one taking care of everything and mostly himself. “I’ll tell you if there’s something I don’t wanna do, okay?”

“Okay.” Liam agreed immediately, seemingly relieved somehow as he moved his hands further up Niall’s back underneath his shirt when the younger man ducked down to kiss him some more. They hadn’t really done anything so far, just snogging and a lot of touching and it was really late by now but Niall didn’t care anymore.

Having missed Liam for days now and finally seeing him again, watching him be so fucking sweet the whole day long and especially to May and doing absolutely everything for her and Niall… it really did things to Niall. In a really, really good way though.

When Liam slowly started to push his shirt up higher, Niall eventually broke the kiss for just a second to take it off altogether so Liam wouldn’t have to be hesitant about doing it, and the older man got slightly more confident then, rolling them over so he could be on top instead.

“Think you should take this off as well… “ Niall mumbled against the older’s lips, tucking on his shirt and Liam laughed breathlessly, immediately doing Niall the favor though. This wasn’t new, but it still felt a lot more intense than it usually did whenever they were both half undressed. “Liam… “

“Yeah?” Liam let his forehead knock against Niall’s, softly, and the younger man kept his eyes closed as he let his fingers run through Liam’s hair, pulling gently at it in the back.

“Nothing, I just… I’m really happy I’m here. With you. And you’re beautiful.” He really was, also fully dressed of course, but Niall only added it because he knew Liam would get embarrassed and he was the absolute cutest whenever Niall said things like that.

“I’m really happy you’re here too, but… shut up.” The older man whispered and Niall laughed, but it got drowned in another kiss.

Things got a little more heated when Liam slowly thrusted his hips against Niall’s, as if he just wanted to try it and wasn’t sure if it was alright, so Niall immediately made sure to clutch on tighter to him, spread his legs a bit more comfortably to show him that he could keep going. The fact that Niall hadn’t had sex with anyone in ages was kinda really effecting him now and he could feel himself getting hard just from this. Then again, so was Liam and it’s not like Niall would have been embarrassed over it. This was the point of this after all.

For a while it was just this, Liam thrusting their fully clothed crutches together and while kissing Niall so desperately as if he would have died otherwise or something and Niall returning it all because the longer they were dragging this out, the more turned on did he get as well. 

When he pushed a hand in between their bodies though, Liam suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Wait, wait… “ He caught Niall’s wrist in the movement, having ended the kiss promptly and Niall was a little confused but also out of breath. “I, um… I don’t have anything, like… no condoms or-“

“I do.” Niall simply told him, because he did, and maybe he should have expected Liam’s confusion but in all honesty, he was more busy thinking about how much he liked the fact that Liam didn’t have anything on him while he was on tour. Not that Niall thought he’d go off shagging someone else, but the fact that it seemed to have not even crossed his mind, not even in hopes of getting Niall to sleep with him… he really was putting it all in the younger’s hands. “I thought I’d rather be prepared, just in case.”

“So… you planned this?” Liam seemed to like that thought, but Niall still had to shake his head as he smiled at him, brushing his thumb over Liam’s swollen bottom lip.

“Not really, bought it a while ago… good thing that lube only had 100 milliliters.” The thought of airport security taking it in front of Louis… a nightmare.

“Oh my god.” Was all Liam said, his eyes having gone wide, probably having had the exact same thought. “Okay, well, um… then you can… keep going. With whatever.”

“Thank you so much.” Niall laughed, but he did pull Liam’s head back down to his because he was already missing the feeling of their tongues moving together, and the scrape of Liam’s beard against his already sensitive skin. 

He didn’t move his hand back to where it had been immediately, only when Liam was thrusting their hips together a bit more desperately and Niall decided to take pity on him as he slipped his hand into the older’s pants, and accidentally also inside his boxer shorts but whatever. 

“I’ve not done this in a really long t-“

“Doesn’t ma- _fuck_ \- matter.” Liam half choked out, pressing his sweaty forehead against Niall’s temple as the younger’s fingers wrapped around his length. “You’re d-doing just f-fine… “

“I’m glad.” Really though, Niall wasn’t doing a lot, just very slowly moving his fist up and down Liam’s hot erection, taking notice of his increased breathing and whatever noises he made, just to be sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Didn’t really seem as if he could have done anything wrong at this point though. 

Niall kept going for a while, not kissing Liam anymore because the older man seemed more busy on not choking and sighing against Niall’s skin, so when his moans were getting a bit more frequent, Niall stopped, not wanting this all to be over too soon. Liam seemed to have different opinions on that, but he didn’t say anything, just let out a whine.

“One second, I’ll be right back.” Niall promised, gently pushing against Liam’s shoulder so he’d let him sit up, pecking his lips as he got out of bed while the older man let himself fall on his back.

Yeah, Niall’s pants had definitely gotten uncomfortably tight by the time he was going through his stuff to find what he had been looking for, only half surprised when he turned around and Liam had pushed off the rest of his clothes, a hand wrapped around himself, and the sight made Niall breathless for a moment. Fuck, he truly was hot as hell, Niall had never seen him naked, but most of all, he had never seen him with his skin all flushed, a hand wrapped around himself, the veins on his tattooed arm popping out as he slowly jerked himself off. 

“Ni… come back.” Liam told him, his voice sounding a bit strained and Niall definitely didn’t have to be told twice.

He had no time to get himself undressed or do anything at all really because Liam had propped himself up on his elbow as soon as Niall was in bed again, pulling him down to kiss him before softly pushing him down on his back again, moving on top of him. By that time, Niall had let go of the lube and condom, lost them somewhere in the bed probably, but he didn’t spend a thought on that anymore in this moment, just wanted his hands free to touch Liam again. 

Liam seemed to have decided it was Niall’s turn now because he only kissed him briefly before his lips moved down the younger’s neck instead and Niall was too far gone to push the older’s head away when he gently sucked on his skin before continuing further down. Whatever, chances were he hadn’t even left a mark anyways, and if he HAD… well, maybe Niall wouldn’t have minded so much after all. 

The older man took his time pressing open mouthed kisses down Niall’s chest and stomach and the younger man wouldn’t have minded had he just never stopped doing this. Although, he might have at one point gone insane, but the anticipation and Liam’s mouth against his body felt so good that he would have taken that on him. 

“Can I… ?” Liam stopped once he had reached Niall’s pants, waiting for the younger’s permission yet again before simply pulling everything down in one go and Niall helped a bit by moving his hips, but not really.

“I-“

And Niall didn’t come much further, because Liam was done wasting time as he put his mouth on Niall’s erection, hand wrapping around the base as he licked across the head and Niall felt his stomach tightening as he let out an unexpected moan. A little too loud probably, but he was positive it hadn’t left the room.

“Fuck… wait.” Niall genuinely didn’t wanna interrupt Liam, actually, he really just wanted him to keep going. For 3 more seconds before he’d come. “I… I’m not gonna last if you do that.”

“That’s alright.” Liam suddenly had a very cheeky grin on his face, proud almost, and his hand was still wrapped around Niall’s dick as well, breath hitting the sensitive skin whenever he talked so Niall had to take a very deep breath to try and collect himself.

“Yeah, no, but… I thought we could… you know. Do it proper.” Short, he DID want Liam to suck him off right now, but even MORE than that, he really wanted them to just take it all the way. Right at this very second. “If you want.”

“I, yeah, of course.” That did startle the older man and he let go of Niall, giving the younger man a second to breathe properly though he really missed his touch already. Fuck, he hadn’t forgotten what this felt like, but it had been years and years since he had been intimate with someone else. “I could also make you come first though.”

“I… “ Niall started, a little surprise with how eager Liam seemed to be to get his hands and mouth back on him, there was a giant grin on his face as he crawled back up on top of Niall, using his hesitation to kiss him deeply, their erections brushing together as he moved and it was almost enough for Niall to moan rather loudly yet again. “I just really want you.”

“Okay.” Liam agreed, seemingly very happy with that answer and Niall couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly as they pulled apart a bit, noses still brushing. “Understandable, I mean you couldn’t really find anyone better looking anyways.“

“Oh my god.” Niall couldn’t help but laugh though, obviously not annoyed with the older man for real. He was just so bloody cute. “You know what, maybe it’s just because I haven’t had sex in so long and I’m getting desperate.”

“Ouch. Well, in that case, you probably wouldn’t mind if I just-“

“I was kidding.” The younger man got nervous for just one second, holding Liam back as he pretended to be moving, only to realize that he probably wouldn’t have done it anyways. Well, at least Liam had something to laugh about now. “Oh, stop it.”

“I’m just happy to see how eager you are.” Liam still sounded very proud, and honestly, seeing him like this was way worth Niall’s tiny embarrassment. “Did I ruin the mood now?”

“By talking about how handsome you are?” Niall joked, rubbing his thumb over Liam’s cheekbone now, and down his face to cup the back of his neck. “I mean… you weren’t lying.”

“Thank you.” The older man snorted a bit, but he still looked happy about the answer as he leaned down to kiss Niall again and continue where they had left off. Only now, Niall had felt his slight nervousness fade because of them joking around for a moment, being less serious, and he realized that there was no need to be unsure about any of this. He knew Liam would let him control absolutely anything, that he’d stop the very second Niall wanted him to and that he really only wanted to be close to him. 

They didn’t go at it immediately, though Liam pulled away again at some point, to ask how Niall wanted to it and the younger man was only hesitant for 1 second, mostly because he didn’t know what Liam was even talking about. Not his fault though that he didn’t have a lot of experience.

“I think… you should do all the work.” It was kind of a joke, but actually, Niall just didn’t know how else to say that he wanted Liam to be on top. Like, yeah, he could have just said THAT, but then it wouldn’t have been slightly funny and he might have again become nervous. 

“I don’t wanna hurt you though.” Sounded like a valid concern, however…

“Well… I mean… “ Niall started, clearing his throat a bit because he wasn’t sure how to word this without ruining the mood and making it weird. It clearly wasn’t intended to come out any other way than curious. “I’ve not done this in ages and… even longer since I’ve been with a guy, so… I mean, what do you usually, um, do? Or… what do you like better?”

“Usually I’m on top, but we don’t have to do it like t-“

“No, that’s fine, let’s do that.” The younger man quickly blurted out, his nerves definitely kicking in now, so he decided to just be a little stupid, out of nervousness. “Then I don’t have to do anything and it’s not my fault if it’s bad.”

“Don’t think it could be bad.” Liam rolled his eyes though, a smile on his face before he suddenly let his forehead sink against Niall’s, making him laugh by bumping their noses together. “Hey… don’t be nervous, okay? I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“I know… I’ve just not done anything like this in a really long time and… it kinda feels like the first time.” Mostly because Niall had been a teenager through everything else pretty much, so… all this meant something completely different. It meant a lot more, it was so much more serious and… he really wanted it to be as amazing as possible. “But I really want to, I know you were about to ask that.”

“I was.” Liam admitted before hesitating for a moment, still keeping his face close to Niall’s, his hand rubbing up and down the younger’s side. “I’m kinda nervous too.”

“Why?” Truly, WHY? 

“I don’t know… I don’t wanna hurt you or… make it not that great. And I know you were just joking before, that’s not why I said it.” Strangely enough, Liam admitting this somehow made Niall more confident, maybe because it made him feel less LESS experienced. Not that that should have made any difference to begin with.

“Let’s just… try not to be nervous and stop talking about it when there’s probably no reason to anyways.” Like, they could have been lying there talking about it the whole night if they never actually did anything.

“Okay, okay, I got it, you want us to shut up and get to business.” Liam laughed again, cutting off Niall’s protest by kissing him, immediately deepening the kiss as well and seconds later, they had both forgotten the conversation had even taken place.

Somehow Liam managed to find the lube again between the sheets, and while they were both distracted by each other, but he had to break the kiss in order to put some of the liquid on his fingers, making sure Niall was ready before actually moving his hand down between them. His eyes were watching Niall’s facial expressions so closely that the younger man was almost afraid to even just flinch as he felt Liam’s finger against his hole, just rubbing a tight circle, getting it wet with lube.

“Okay?” Liam asked, though he hadn’t done anything at all and Niall just nodded, spreading his legs a bit more comfortably and focusing on his boyfriend’s face instead, holding on his arm the he was using to prop himself up a bit. “You know… I could also… use my mouth.”

“You could… “ Fuck, just the image got Niall’s dick jerking a bit, but he decided that maybe tonight wasn’t the night to try absolutely everything. “But, um… this is alright. It feels good and… you can… you know.”

He didn’t though, not immediately, he just had a thoughtful expression on his face before suddenly starting to press kisses at various spots in Niall’s face and Niall only noticed he had been trying to distract him when he tried to push his finger in gently. Well, that had worked really fucking well.

Liam tried his very best clearly, he was being so gentle and careful that Niall almost wanted to tell him to hurry up, but he didn’t, he was just grateful that this was his boyfriend. It didn’t hurt at first, it was just slightly uncomfortable, kinda between pleasure and pinching, but somewhat enjoyable still. Especially with all the distractions Liam seemed to think of, snogging Niall randomly or suddenly jerking him off, touching him the whole entire time he was slowly moving his finger inside him, and then a second one after a while to open him up a bit more.

The third one did hurt a little, but Niall was fairly certain he hadn’t even really flinched. Plus, he was all relaxed at this point, and Liam’s tongue was in his mouth, and honestly, once the older man was scissoring his fingers apart a bit while slowly pushing them in and out again, Niall found himself getting harder again, his stomach twisting with pleasure.

It wouldn’t have been enough to make him come just yet, but as Liam kept going and then suddenly brushed Niall’s prostate, making him jerk, Niall decided it was time to stop him if he didn’t want this to end in a few minutes. “I think… I think I’m good.”

“You sure?” Liam himself didn’t sound sure at all, he stopped the thrusting for a moment, waiting for Niall to nod a bit desperately maybe. It’s just… his erection was leaking onto his skin at this point and he really had to hold back whenever Liam’s fingers just hit all the right fucking spots and… fuck, he couldn’t even imagine what his dick would feel like instead. “Okay, let’s try.”

Niall didn’t comment the ‘try’ because he was fairly certain he definitely wanted this, and NOW, but he was also grateful Liam was doing it all so slowly, without any haste. Somehow he found the condom as well and Niall took it out of his hands immediately, making sure to put it on for him before spreading some more lube as well, a little proud that Liam had stayed hard during all of this. Probably from rutting against Niall’s thigh the entire time. 

They changed their positions a little and Niall felt his heart almost jumping out of his chest as he watched Liam grabbing a hold of himself, biting his bottom lip as he guided himself towards Niall’s entrance, only letting the head work him open a little at first, but it was enough for the younger man to throw his head back a bit, a quiet moan escaping him. Fuck, this was gonna be over way too soon.

Liam went really slow pushing inside the younger man, stopping every few moments and waiting until Niall was looking at him until he was _finally_ bottoming out fully. Niall still felt on the edge of pain, but other feelings were definitely a lot more prominent, especially when he noticed how heavy Liam’s breathing had gotten as well, his eyes having become a bit glassy, very obviously having to hold back at this point. 

“How’s it feel?” He asked, his fingers almost feeling cool against Niall’s heated face before he pressed a shivery kiss to the younger’s cheek.

“Good… “ Niall told him, not thinking as he moved his body a bit, causing Liam to moan quietly against his skin and Niall made sure to wrap his arms more tightly around the older’s neck, keep him close. “I’m fine, Li… you can move.”

“Okay… just a sec… “ Liam sounded breathless and Niall wondered whether he was already this close, just from doing this, so he didn’t keep pushing of course, just held him, listening to his uneven breaths and feeling his heart hammering in his chest from where they were pressed together. 

Somehow it all got Niall choked up a bit, not because he was in pain or whatever, the complete opposite actually. It felt so intimate, even without Liam moving and them just lying there like this, but they were truly as humanly close as possible and it made Niall’s heart swell with how much he liked Liam, how much he just wanted to keep him right here like this forever.

When Liam started to move, he started out really slow, barely moving his hips and his facial expression stayed concentrated as he lifted his head a bit. Niall was pretty sure he had never seen him more beautiful than while biting his bottom lip like that, sweat glistening on his skin and his hair all messed up from where Niall had run his fingers through. “Fuck… “

“You can go faster, you won’t hurt me.” Niall promised, maybe sounding slightly too eager, but… whatever. Fuck.

“O-Okay… ‘s just… I don’t want this to be over too soon.” Liam laughed for only a second before he pressed his eyes shut again and Niall realized that he wasn’t only going so slow in fear of hurting him, but also because he was so close himself. Somehow, that only turned him on even more as well. “Niall… “

“Yeah… I’m here…” They weren’t looking at each other anymore because Niall was just clinging to Liam for his dear life and the older man had his head buried somewhere next to Niall’s, grabbing onto the younger’s thigh with one hand, as if he needed something to hold onto while unsteadily thrusting into him, building a rhythm. “D-Don’t stop… you feel so good… _aah_ … “

“Fuck, baby… “ He had never called Niall that before, but the younger man also barely took any notice of it in that moment, all he could focus on was holding back right now because Liam felt so fucking good inside of him, hitting all the right spots now and filling him out completely, Niall’s erection trapped between their bodies. When Liam pushed his thigh up a bit more to get a better angle, Niall almost cried out from pleasure, his mouth tasting a little bloody as the older man continued to rock into him. 

Liam stopped moving sometimes, probably so he wouldn’t come, and it got Niall a little frustrated, but at the same time, it somehow made it all even more exciting, and so much more intense whenever he started moving again, so he definitely wasn’t complaining. Nothing Liam could have done right now would have made any of this any less amazing than it was. Niall was literally on cloud nine, and he couldn’t recall ever feeling this way before. 

“N-Ni… I’m g-gonna… “ The older man brought out between grunts and Niall held on even tighter, his eyes pressed shut as he curled his fingers into Liam’s hair.

“’s o-okay… “ He reassured Liam with shaky breaths, gasping when he suddenly felt the older’s hand pushing between their bodies and wrapping around his ignored erection, messily jerking him off while he was driving into him, definitely not holding back anymore now.

His orgasm kinda just washed over Niall without warning, he was pulling on Liam’s hair, probably scratching his skin as the older man was working him through it, moaning as the younger man clenched around him. It felt so bloody good, Niall didn’t even know where his head was after coming down from it, barely aware of Liam still thrusting into him before he was pushed over the edge also, putting most of his weight on the younger man afterwards. 

They didn’t speak for a moment, just tried to catch their breaths before Niall moved a bit to cup Liam’s head in his hands, pulling him gently so that they could kiss. It felt even more intense now when their tongues met, the hotness of the older’s mouth and the way he tasted, Niall could have easily become addicted to that feeling. Or this post sex make out session, just lying here with Liam like this, both of them kinda gross and sweaty, but Niall had still never felt better. 

“So… “ Niall started after they had pulled apart once more to breathe again, faces still close though. “That definitely wasn’t bad at all.”

“Definitely.” Liam agreed with a breathless laughter, pecking Niall’s lips again before brushing some hair out of his forehead, such a fond smile on his face that it got the younger’s heartbeat a bit unsteady again. “We should do that again sometime.”

“Yeah… “ Now that Niall knew what it was like, and that he had definitely been nervous for nothing, he honestly wasn’t that sure how to NOT do that again sometime. And again right after that. “Is my neck red?”

“Kinda.” The older man told him after looking down for a second, brushing his thumb over Niall’s sensitive skin, gently, but it still hurt a bit. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“It’s okay… I liked it.” He’d just have to make up some excuse to May in case she asked, she tended to do that whenever Niall had a bruise somewhere. “I liked everything you did.”

“I’m glad. Just wait, I can do so much more.” Liam joked, winking at Niall when he rolled his eyes at him before kissing him again. 

They stayed like this for a while until Liam pulled out and went to get rid of the condom, taking some tissues with him as well. Sure, they could have showered and whatnot, but Niall was way too sleepy now to still get out of bed, so he also didn’t bother with clothes or anything like that, simply allowing Liam to wrap him all up in his arms, spooning him from behind. It felt so lovely, to have their bare skin pressed together like this, Liam’s warmth and how everything smelled like him, his lips against Niall’s naked shoulder the last thing the younger man took notice of before drifting off.

 

\-------------------

 

Though Liam had been tired before all this and Niall seemed completely and utterly exhausted, the older man suddenly couldn’t fall asleep anymore after, so he just held his boyfriend in his arms, listening to his even breathing, occasionally kissing whatever part of his body he could reach. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this content and just so happy that he could have burst with it.

Honestly, if Liam didn’t get one single second of sleep tonight, he wouldn’t have cared either. Thank god he’d be able to go home with Niall and May tomorrow night or he would have had the hardest time ever saying goodbye after all this. He had felt close to Niall before, obviously, but now… fuck, Liam was truly so in love with him, after such a short time, and he hadn’t even told him yet. 

Hours might have passed by, or maybe only minutes, Liam didn’t know, but at one point, he thought he had definitely heard something from outside the room. At first, he wanted to just ignore it because he didn’t wanna let go of Niall and leave him all alone here, but then he remembered that May was here with them and he definitely didn’t want to wake Niall.

So although it was a little hard, Liam gently unwrapped himself from Niall, having the most trouble getting his hand free because Niall had been holding onto it the entire time, but luckily he didn’t do as much as bug once Liam had gotten out of bed, making sure to tuck the younger man in before going on a quick search for some pants. He was pretty sure he ended up putting on Niall’s because they were a bit tighter, but it was dark and Liam was pretty sure the younger man wouldn’t have cared. 

Liam didn’t check his phone for the time or anything, he just went straight to the closed bedroom door, opening it quietly and stepping out fully to close it once more behind him. It was dark and also a bit chilly from the air condition, but Liam still tried it with a whisper because he had definitely heard something, multiple times. “May? Are you awake?”

There was no answer, so Liam went to her bedroom, the night light Niall had brought for her illuminating the room, and her empty, messed up bed. For just a second, Liam almost panicked, but then he remembered that May wouldn’t have been able to fully get out into the hallways and he instead went over to check in the other bathroom that wasn’t connected to his and Niall’s bedroom.

Thank god the lights were fully turned on there, even though they hurt Liam’s eyes. “May?”

“Yeah?” She answered as if it was the most normal thing in the entire world as Liam slowly pushed open the only half closed door, finding her in her pajamas and her extra blanket sitting on the floor, apparently reading a book to her stuffed animal. 

“What are you doing?” Liam didn’t know what else to say, his eyes slowly getting used to the light, trying to figure out if she had been crying or not, but it honestly didn’t seem like it, she just looked very awake if anything. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I woke up and then I couldn’t go back to sleep and daddy says I’m not allowed to read in the night in my bed when he’s asleep and that I should try to fall back asleep but I couldn’t.” Wait…

“So you went to the bathroom instead?” Liam asked, confused, but also… well, it did make sense, somehow. In a child’s mind. “But the floor is all cold.”

“But I was also thirsty.” She explained, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Why didn’t you come to me and your dad?” Thank god she hadn’t just walked in, but then again, Niall was already asleep since hours probably, Liam hadn’t checked the time now or before.

“Daddy says I should come to him and wake him when I had a bad dream or I’m feeling bad or I’m sad or something else, but I just couldn’t sleep. And he also says when he’s having a sleepover with you then I can’t just get into his bed because there’s no space.” Well… she had done everything right then, hadn’t she? Although Liam still had to do something about it of course.

“Okay… you know, I think your dad would be okay if you read in bed when I’m there as well. And the floor really is cold.” The tiles were actually uncomfortable against Liam’s bare feet, he had gotten down a bit to be more on May’s eye level, but he fully stood up again now, stretching his hand out towards her. “C’mon, let’s get you back in bed.”

“But I’m still not tired.” The little girl complained though she did get up, taking Liam’s hand but leaving all the items on the floor at the same time. 

“You know what? I can’t sleep either, but we can still read something where it’s more comfortable than here, okay? Doesn’t mean we’re gonna go to sleep.” What else were they supposed to do? Yeah, Liam wouldn’t have minded lying in bed with Niall the entire night, but he couldn’t when May was wide awake as well and this was obviously the priority here. 

May seemed rather happy with the idea, she held onto Liam’s hand, letting him collect the blanket, the book and her stuffed animal though before they walked back into her bedroom. Liam made sure to close the door and flick on her bedside table lamp for better lightening. Why did he have a feeling that this was gonna be the longest night ever?

“I don’t like this bed.” May confessed after Liam had sat down on the other side next to where she had gotten underneath the blanket.

“Why not? It’s really big and soft.” And Liam had no idea how much this entire room cost, but it was slightly amusing that May didn’t seem to think it was actually that great.

“It’s _too_ big.” She explained, moving closer to Liam then as he leaned against the extra pillows. “I don’t wanna read anymore. Can we do something else?”

“What do you wanna do?” Did it really still matter at this point? She obviously wasn’t tired, also didn’t look like it, and Liam really didn’t think it would have made sense to wake Niall now and ask him what to do. At least one of them could get some sleep, right? 

“I don’t know. Is my daddy asleep?” Hopefully, but he would have come looking for Liam otherwise, right?

“Yeah, since a while already… so we need to be a little quiet, okay? So he won’t wake up.” Then again, her room was so far away from the other one, even further than when they were in Niall’s flat. But Liam mostly said it so she wouldn’t suggest turning on the TV because he didn’t think Niall would have liked that very much once he found out in the morning. 

“Hmmm…. “ May made, sitting up again and looking down at her stuffed animal now in her lap, playing with the ears a bit. “Can we go drink something? I’m thirsty again.”

“Okay, I can go and get you someth-“

“I wanna come.” Of course.

So Liam walked around the bed, picking her up because she had her arms stretched out towards him and was making no intention of getting up herself.

Liam did make sure that they were only whispering once they were outside her room and he carried May over to the kitchen area. The hotel people working here had put tons of stuff into his fridge and the cupboards as well, so he was actually able to make her some hot chocolate, almost forgetting to turn off the microwave before it started beeping. Not that it would have woken Niall probably, but Liam was rather safe than sorry.

“Is it good?” Liam asked quietly while May was sitting on the counter taking her first sip, looking very critical while doing so. “To my defense, I wouldn’t have chosen that brand if I had had the choice.”

That made May smile, but she kept on drinking a bit more so it couldn’t have been awful, right? “I like it, thank you. How late is it?”

“Ummm… “ Liam made as he turned his head to check the clock by the microwave that he had somehow not seen before. Oh. “Two in the morning.”

“Oh.” May made, having had the same thought as Liam apparently, but she also simply continued drinking her hot chocolate, so… it didn’t seem as if she minded that much. Well, she probably would in the morning. “When do we have to get up tomorrow?”

“Well, that depends… “ Liam started before pulling himself up on the counter next to the little girl, which she seemed to really enjoy for some reason. “The later we get up the less time we have to go and look around the city and do things. And if we get up too late we can’t say goodbye to Louis.”

“But we see him all the time anyways.” May threw in, which almost made Liam laugh, but he tried his hardest to hold back. She hadn’t meant it in a mean way of course. “But I wanna see the city. I’ve never been to any city before, only London. Or maybe… I don’t know. Me and daddy never went on vacation but granny showed me pictures of daddy on a plane when he was as old as me.”

“Yeah? Do you know where he went?” Genuinely though, because Liam didn’t know either, but May just shrugged as well before shaking her head and Liam made sure to brush her hair back when it almost touched the inside of the mug she was holding. “Well, then maybe we shouldn’t get up too late, so we won’t run out of time.”

“Have you ever been here before?” She asked, suddenly looking down though before Liam could have told her yes. “You have the same pajamas pants as my daddy.”

“Um… he actually… he borrowed me his.” Wrong answer.

“But he only packed those.” Right, Liam was a fucking idiot, wasn’t he?

“Yeah, well… he’s got on mine. They got switched up when he unpacked, so… and then we thought there was no reason to change them back because I already had them on.” Okay, Liam had just explained this in the most complicated way ever, when in reality, May seemed to have not even cared that much to begin with. 

“Okay. Actually I know you’ve been here before. I know a lot of cities you’ve been to.” And then she just started listing cities, and a few countries in between, and a few names that didn’t really belong to either category, but she was so cute while doing so that of course Liam didn’t say anything, just nodded along, helping her out with a few. “On how many planes have you been?”

“Wow, uh, a lot. I never counted them.” If he had known an exact number, Liam would have probably been concerned, but he had never thought about it before and maybe he also didn’t even wanna know. 

“That must be so much fun. I can’t wait to go back on a plane tomorrow, but I also don’t wanna go back home and back to school, it’s so much more fun here.” Though she obviously hadn’t intended that, Liam suddenly started to feel really bad, but there was no time for him to come up with something smart to say. “And daddy is a lot happier too and I like when we all spend time together.”

“I like that too.” Liam told her, a bit of a lump in his throat now because he knew May wasn’t just telling him things he wanted to hear, she was a little girl, she just said it how it was, so the fact that she had taken notice of Niall’s mood change… it really made Liam happy. But also, it made him feel slightly worried for the rest of his tour. “You like going to school though, right? And you like seeing all your friends, and your granny and grandpa, and sometimes going to work with your dad?”

“Yeah… I wish I could tell my friends about you.” Right, that was yet another problem Niall and Liam were facing though it worked out a lot better than any of them would have ever expected. Liam had no idea how Niall had told May she could tell absolutely no one about any of this, but… as long as it worked. 

“Maybe one day… but you know why me and your dad want you to keep it a secret, right?” Did she?

“Yeah, because it’s a _secret_.” The way she said it, as if it was OBVIOUS, made Liam laugh for a second before he remembered he had to be quiet. “If I told my friends they would all get jealous and then they would all wanna play with you as well and come to your concerts.”

“Would you want that?” Liam asked without thinking, not really sure why, but he was genuinely curious.

“No.” May told him, straight forward and without hesitation, again forcing Liam to bite the inside of his cheek and hold back a laugh. “I have to pee.”

“O- wait, don’t jump.” One second Liam had been amused, the next he was panicked as May had put down her now empty mug, about to simply jump off the counter. It wasn’t that far, but… still. 

Liam hopped down first before slowly lifting her down as well, asking whether she would be fine on her own and she immediately agreed, so he let her go by herself. He had no idea what else they could have been doing though, like yeah, he could have maybe gotten his phone or his laptop, but they were both in the room Niall was sleeping in and also… watching a movie probably wouldn’t have put her to sleep either. And also not Liam himself. Maybe they really would be bound to stay up all night.

Since he didn’t want May having to search for him, Liam stayed right where he was, thinking about actually washing the mug she had been using, but then he remembered that turning on the water would have been way too loud, so he simply put it in the sink.

When May came back, she seemed even more energetic as before, and Liam had to gently remind her to be a bit more quiet and she immediately complied, starting to whisper even more quietly than before. “Can you pick me up?”

“You really like to be carried, huh? Are you getting tired?” Liam didn’t hesitate lifting her up, mostly because she was so light anyways and if she had that much fun having him carry her, why not?

“Nope.” Great. “Can we look at the lights?”

“What lights?” Liam was confused, but realized what she wanted when she pointed to the window front, so he walked over with her, as close to the glass as possible so they could look at the view. It was impressive, but somehow Liam had stopped being impressed by views a while ago, which he only really noticed when he saw the excited look on May’s face. 

“What’s that?” She was touching the glass with her finger but Liam wasn’t actually sure what she was referring to, so he just assumed.

“A church. We can go there tomorrow.” Hopefully, but he doubted anyone would recognize him if they only stayed at the tourist attractions briefly, it usually worked in most cities. “Do you like the view?”

“Yes, it’s so pretty. I’ve never been up this high before.” As if she had to prove her point, she half pressed her face against the glass and Liam laughed, stepping slightly closer so he wouldn’t risk dropping her. “What’s that?”

So they spent a few minutes of Liam trying to answer that question about 10 more times without knowing what May was pointing to or what it actually was. He didn’t think that she really cared for the truth much, namely that he also had no idea and that most things were just normal buildings people lived in anyways. She seemed to have fun though, so that was all he really cared about.

“Are you getting sleepy?” Liam asked again when she had resorted to having both her arms wrapped around his neck and resting her head on top. He was kinda getting a little tired himself, probably not enough to sleep though.

“Hmm, no.” She was clearly lying now, but that was alright, Liam was just relieved that she didn’t have endless energy after all.

He walked her up and down the room a bit, occasionally coming up with more answers to more buildings that looked interesting once they got to the other side, but she was becoming increasingly more quiet and Liam thought that maybe he had found the key after all. It wasn’t reading, it was maybe just carrying her around the hotel room the entire night and rocking her a bit in his arms.

As much as Liam would have liked to believe in his theory though, May did not fall asleep at any point, though she was very obviously starting to become tired. When she did finally allow Liam to at least walk back into her bedroom, she requested him reading some other book to her and though Liam’s eyes felt a bit weak by then, he agreed of course.

He had to move position a lot because holding that book up was tiring as hell, and eventually, Liam ended up half lying down on his side so he could let the book rest against the mattress instead, May having somehow ended up next to him so she could see the pictures. 

With her head on Liam’s arm, it wasn’t really that comfortable either, but apparently comfortable enough for Liam to just fall asleep at some point.

 

\---------------

 

When Niall woke up to Liam’s alarm and found that he was all alone in bed, he was slightly disappointed at first, but then he remembered last night and everything else and that the older man was probably only using the bathroom and he immediately calmed down again. Fuck, hours had passed, a whole entire night, and yet Niall was still smiling over it.

Honestly, coming here had been the best decision in the entire world.

After 15 minutes had passed and Niall hadn’t heard a sound, he decided to get up and go check where Liam was, only finding the older man’s pants on the floor though and not his own. Whatever, Liam had probably put on the wrong ones, maybe he had been in a haste or something, so Niall just put on his.

The whole hotel room was quiet, neither of the bathrooms were closed and Niall started to wonder whether Liam had left or something, like, maybe he had had an appointment or so? But he would have left Niall a note for sure and also… his phone had been in the room as well.

Niall was slightly worried, but he decided to check on May first, see if she was still asleep as well because surprisingly enough, it wasn’t even that late yet. Maybe even Louis was still asleep somewhere in another room.

No idea what Niall had expected upon quietly opening the door, but it certainly hadn’t been what he saw. 

First of all, the whole room was lit from the bedside table lamp that must have been on the whole night now, giving Niall the perfect view of what was going on. It truly wasn’t hard to immediately put the pieces together, the book having half fallen out of Liam’s hand onto the mattress, his arm still stretched out towards it as well and May resting her head on it, both of them deeply asleep.

Would it have been really weird if Niall had started crying over how cute they were? Probably, but no one was here to become witness of his reaction anyways.

He basically just stood there staring like an idiot before suddenly coming to his senses again and realizing that they had both slept in without any covers, so Niall actually quickly went back to the other bedroom to get the blanket from there so he wouldn’t have to pull it out from underneath Liam. And while he was in the other room, he made sure to take his phone as well so he could take a picture before they’d wake up.

Maybe it was pointless to tuck them in now, when they would have to get up soon anyways, but Niall didn’t actually care, trying to be as careful as possible as he put the blanket over them, or mostly over Liam because it automatically went over May as well anyways. How long had Liam spent here, the entire night? And he hadn’t come to get Niall and wake him, that was really typical of him, but it also made Niall’s heart warmer.

Though he wanted to, he stopped touching the older man after kissing his cheek a bit and running his fingers through May’s hair, kinda terrified to disturb them though so he forced himself to step back. Niall knew that if he had stayed, he’d eventually have ended up going over again so he made sure to leave the room after staring for a bit too long, with the dumbest grin on his face. There was still time until he had to wake them before Louis would do it for him by banging on the door or something.

Niall did go shower after a while though he kinda didn’t wanna wash off the memories from last night, but he realized that it wasn’t going to take anything away from that because it hadn’t been the last time they had had sex obviously. Rather the first of many, hopefully. 

He somehow managed to figure out how to use the coffee machine, Liam having told him yesterday that he could eat or drink absolutely anything he found, but Niall stuck to getting some caffeine because he felt like he would really need it. While waiting, he threw some glances at the clock, considering just letting Liam and May sleep for longer, but that decision was luckily taken off of him when he felt arms wrapping around him from behind. 

“You scared me.” Niall told Liam after flinching, immediately feeling better though as the older man pressed himself up against his back, arms tight around Niall as he kissed his cheek.

“Sorry… “ Liam mumbled against his skin and already, Niall could tell he was exhausted. “Morning.”

“Morning… how are you doing?” The coffee was long forgotten by that time, Niall leaned back into the older man, rubbing his hand over the older’s bare arm across his chest. 

“Not so great.” Liam admitted with a laugh, leaning his head against Niall’s. “I couldn’t sleep and May couldn’t either so we kinda stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning. I don’t even know when she slept in because I fell asleep before her.”

“Oh god.” Was all Niall had to say to that because honestly… today was going to be terrible then, with May all tired and cranky. 

“Sorry you had to sleep all alone.” He seemed to really mean it somehow, as if he really thought Niall was upset about that or something.

“I’d say I missed you in bed but I didn’t notice until an hour or so ago.” Truly, it seemed all the sleep the other two hadn’t gotten, Niall had slept extra well. “You didn’t have to stay awake with her, you could’ve woken me and-“

“But I couldn’t sleep anyways, so it was fine. And May was fine as well, she just genuinely didn’t seem to be that tired. I made her some hot chocolate and then we looked at the view for a while and I read to her and… I must have passed out at some point when the rabbit baked that carrot cake or something.”

“She stuffed her entire backpack full of books.” Niall laughed, turning his head a bit to kiss Liam’s cheek, but he ended up kissing him for real, lingering a bit longer. “Thank you for taking care of her, I almost had a heart attack before because of how cute you two looked sleeping.”

“Then I’m glad you recovered from that.” Liam joked, kissing Niall again. “Last night was… amazing. I mean… before I was up the rest of it.”

“It was… I’m glad I came prepared.” It was a joke, but somehow it was also the truth, Niall genuinely hadn’t thought they’d do anything here, but then everything had been so overwhelming and he had missed Liam so much and now after last night and then Liam being so cute with May… fuck, Niall didn’t know how he’d spend the rest of Liam’s tour missing him.

“Me too.” The older man laughed, smushing his lips up against Niall’s cheek until Niall was laughing too. “I borrowed your pants by the way, couldn’t find mine.”

“They suit you.” Niall told him after Liam had pulled away, starting to make another coffee though Niall would have given him his. “Especially from behind.”

They were actually too small, ESPECIALLY from behind, and Niall could see Liam’s cheeks turn red as he stared at his ass, but then he just grinned anyways and Niall could barely stand not being close to him for just a few moments. How had he gotten in even deeper after just one single night?

 

\--------------------------------

 

Niall ended up having to wake May, trying to get her out of bed for at least 15 minutes or more. He also had to dress her because she was still half asleep standing up and Liam volunteered to carry her down to have breakfast with Louis and a few members of his team in the hotel restaurant. If any possible, the view there was even better, but maybe that was because it was morning, or maybe because Niall could look at Liam next to him, holding his sleeping daughter in his lap after she had finished maybe half a toast with Nutella. That was going to be a fun day, as Louis pointed out so nicely when he noticed her sleepiness.

They said goodbye to Louis then before he was off to the airport, along with some people Liam worked with and the only ones who stayed were the three of them and two of Liam’s bodyguards. Niall did ask him why he needed two because it made him slightly nervous to think that maybe it’d be crazier than he thought, so Liam told him that it was just because he wanted one of them to focus on just May mostly, in case anything happened. So yeah, not only was Niall relieved then, but he also ended up kissing Liam a bit desperately again, with May luckily not complaining because she had fallen asleep again the second Liam had strapped her in the car seat. 

Maybe it was a little risky to walk around the city, or at least get out of the car at some spots, but Niall trusted Liam and they had agreed to keep their distance unless they were in the car. Just in case anybody saw them then Liam could still just pass Niall off as a friend and no one would be interested enough in him or May to remember them or worse, take pictures. Hopefully.

“See, May, that’s the church you asked me about last night, remember?” Liam told her, having gotten down to her level a bit while holding her hand and May blinked up at the building against the sunlight before looking at Liam. “What’d you think?”

“It was prettier from up high.” Great. “I wanna go inside.”

So they did that, and there were lots of tourists anyways and Liam was wearing something long sleeved despite the fact that it was pretty warm. To at least make him slightly less recognizable from afar because of the tattoos he had explained to Niall, and it made sense to Niall in his head, but then he remembered how easily May had spotted Liam all those months back in the mall, when he had been wearing a jacket and he wasn’t sure anymore.

“What are the candles for?” May was luckily whispering after Niall had told her that she needed to once they had entered the church. 

“Uh… it’s for people who have died.” He explained, not feeling like it wasn’t age appropriate because after all… May knew what it meant if someone died, sadly.

The little girl looked thoughtful for a moment before squeezing Niall’s fingers. “Can I have one for my mommy?”

“I- yeah, of course.” It had been slightly unexpected, but Niall agreed immediately, very grateful that Liam wordlessly handed May a few coins because he himself didn’t have any Euros since Liam had told him that one, his card would work anyways and that two, Niall didn’t need any money here. Not that Niall had come here expecting Liam to pay for anything at all after everything he had already paid for them, but he also hadn’t planned on buying anything himself, so… 

Niall made sure to help May so she wouldn’t burn herself while lightning the candle up and putting it with the others, only letting her pretend hold it while Liam was just watching. No idea what was going through his mind, but Niall doubted that it was weird for him because he knew Niall hadn’t been together with May’s mother, and that of course it was terrible that she had passed away, for May. 

“Can she see it?” May whispered to Niall and he nodded to make her smile. “Can we also put one for Meowie?”

Well, so much for that sentimental moment.

“It’s my parents’ old cat. May was allowed to re-name her.” Niall explained to Liam when he saw the confusion on his face and the older man was clearly holding back a laugh, handing May some more money though despite Niall trying to stop him. 

They didn’t stay for very long and Niall carried May outside because there were so many people and he didn’t want her to get lost. Turned out it had been a good idea because he wouldn’t have wanted Liam to hear what she whispered in his ear. “Do you think mommy is happy that we have Liam now?”

“She’s always happy if you are happy, darling.” Niall assured her, though the thought of how different things would be now if May’s mother was still alive, if they had had shared custody and what it would have meant in this very situation, especially because her and Niall used to disagree on many, many things… everything would be different. 

He might not have even known Liam and that thought somehow made Niall feel a little sick. 

The day went by way too fast for his liking. Liam did get stopped two times, and it was kinda really nice to watch him interact with people because he was so damn good at it and they were so grateful. Niall quickly made sure to distract May and go look at something though, so that Liam’s fans wouldn’t start to take notice of them. They really only had eyes for Liam anyways though, so Niall wasn’t too worried.

He kinda missed touching Liam throughout the day, but that was of course a small price to pay for getting to spend so much time with him, watching him be cute with May and altogether finally seeing him again after some days. Especially since last night and this morning, Niall couldn’t seem to get enough of the older man and by the time they were sitting on the plane at night, he was almost happy about it because he got to touch him again.

Plus, it was a private jet, so it didn’t matter and May had fallen asleep two minutes after take-off. 

“When do you have to leave again?” Niall couldn’t help but ask after a few moments of silence between them, running his fingers up and down Liam’s arm with his free hand, the other one tightly intertwined with the older man’s, his head resting on his shoulder.

“In two days... my next concert is on Sunday.” Liam told him quietly, his breath warming Niall’s scalp as he dropped a kiss there. “Are you sleeping at my place tonight?”

“Can we sleep at mine? I need a change of clothes.” Also, Niall had to work tomorrow, so… it’d be a lot easier.

“Of course, I just wanted to make sure.” God, why was he so damn cute? “Do you already have a babysitter for May tomorrow?”

“My parents are taking her in the evening when I got my taxi shift … but I’m taking her with me to the studio before that.” Which, actually, now that Niall thought about it… “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Well… I got something in the evening, but… I kinda feel like maybe I haven’t seen enough of Louis this morning.” Liam joked and Niall suddenly felt a whole lot better about the fear of having to say goodbye soon. They would have to at some point, and he really didn’t need to act like such a baby about it, but he still was.

“I think he’d enjoy that.” Niall laughed, momentarily turning his head so he could kiss Liam’s shoulder over his shirt. “Thank you again, for everything, for flying us out and for being so amazing with May and… just everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that, Ni. I’d do anything for you. And for her.” When he said it, Niall knew he genuinely meant it, he wasn’t just trying to make it sound nice or whatever, he truly felt this way about them and it almost made Niall wanna burst out into tears because how had he gotten this lucky? “… Niall?”

“Yeah?” He had no idea what was coming now, or maybe he would have tried to prepare himself, although… was there really a way to prepare for this?

“I just wanted to tell you, just so you know… actually since last night already but I kinda wasn’t brave enough and- I... I love you.” Liam just said it like that, after the tiniest bit of hesitation, throwing it into the room, or the plane more like, and Niall had no idea what to say, his brain suddenly feeling empty, but before he could have even lifted his head, Liam tried to quickly add something else, getting interrupted by his bodyguard. “Sorry, if-“

“Liam, you should see this. Somebody took pictures today and posted them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think you all know what this ending means, the drama is definitely coming and im super excited haha! the church they visit is the st. stephens cathedral in vienna, its very beautiful and ive bought and lit a lot of candles there as well :) and there are always TONS of tourists so they wouldnt have drawn any attention on them. 
> 
> i really like this chapter and i had a lot of fun writing it, so i hope you guys like it too! somehow this week felt like three and i panicked twice thinking i forgot to upload, i dont know what it was! but im glad i didnt haha! 
> 
> let me know your thoughts if you want, id love to hear them all! i also hope you guys will have a lovely weekend and a great week until the next update!


	15. Chapter 15

“What pictures? And where?“ Liam still felt a rush of energy from what he had foolishly blurted out to Niall seconds ago, not even able to fully concentrate on the phone that was being held right in front of his face. Fuck, what? “We never even did as much as touch except for in the car.”

“Well… yeah, but you know how this works. I mean, Niall’s face isn’t visible, so you should be fine.” Liam’s bodyguard was clearly trying to calm them while Liam scrolled through the pictures, feeling Niall’s eyes stuck on the screen as well, their hands still intertwined and the younger man half leaning on top of Liam. 

The pictures could’ve been way worse, they had really only been taken in one place, when they had been about to get back into the car. Liam was very clearly visible though the picture was a bit blurry, but it only showed Niall’s back while getting into the car, and at most May’s shoes. Then again, it was obvious that she was there and that they all must have known each other well on some personal level, but… again, it could’ve been worse.

But not to Niall apparently.

“Shit… “ He mumbled next to Liam, his hand becoming a bit limp in the older man’s, so Liam held on tighter, feeling a bit of panic arising. “We shouldn’t have done that.”

“But we did.” Liam blurted out, because it was true, but maybe also a little insensitive. He needed to keep calm now, for Niall’s sake. “It’s not a big deal, your face isn’t on it and May isn’t visible at all. People will just think you’re a friend of mine- see, someone even wrote that down there.”

“That’s one person though and… also, what if more pictures come out? It’s only been a few hours and-“

“There won’t, we were being careful, okay? It’s all good, Niall, I promise. It’s just a few blurry pictures, nothing else.” Then again, Liam was slightly worried as well but he tried to force his voice to stay normal as he handed the phone back, resisting the urge to get out his own and do some intense research. “I could tweet something, distract everyone or like… pretend I’m really annoyed if anyone starts to assume things about who you are.”

“Not a good idea, remember the last time you did that?” Liam’s bodyguard reminded him right before walking off and Liam just rolled his eyes, regretting even having said anything.

“What happened last time?” Now Niall seemed even more panicked, he had lifted his head from Liam’s shoulder, was still holding onto his hand though, but probably only because he had forgotten about it.

“Nothing, it wasn’t important. Look” Liam quickly continued when the younger’s mouth had already opened, undoubtedly to ask the same question again. “I know it looks like a big deal right now, but it’s really not. I promise.”

“But how do you know?” Well, he didn’t, so that was already problem number one. “We’ll only know in a few days or something and then it could already be too late.”

“Too late for what?” Okay, should Liam be genuinely concerned about what was on Niall’s mind?!

“Too late for you to say something or whatever, I mean, I know the windows of the car were tainted and everything, but someone might have still somehow gotten a pictures of us like, touching or doing whatever, and of May and-“

“They haven’t, okay? It was just one single person and it’s been hours, if anyone had taken pictures like that I promise you they would have shared them immediately. Or at least by now.” Hopefully, if not then Liam would probably have to take other actions though he wasn't quite sure which ones. “Everything is okay. Breathe.”

“Sorry for freaking out so much, I didn’t think this would happen, especially today and- or maybe ever. I don’t know. It’s like… I tend to forget, or like, not think about _who_ you are and… but if you say it’s gonna be okay then I trust you.” It seemed Niall was truly forcing himself to say that, but Liam still squeezed his fingers, telling himself that that was good enough for now. As long as Niall wouldn’t start distancing himself or something, or worse, just of fear of anybody finding out about them. “Just makes me think a bit… “

“About what?” As if Liam didn’t already know that, but a foolish part in him had maybe been hoping that Niall would say something else.

“The future and stuff.” The younger man shrugged, having looked away from Liam’s face now, instead staring at their hands and Liam felt his stomach drop a little. How very convenient he had had to make a love confession just a second prior to this. 

“I’d never want you to do something you didn’t want or thought wasn’t good for you… or May.” Though it would have broken Liam’s heart at this point, he would have let Niall go if the younger man had decided all of a sudden that this was too much for him. Not that Liam wouldn’t have fought for him, but in the situation they were in and considering his lifestyle… he couldn’t have really, could he? It wasn’t his choice to make.

“I’m not, I’m sorry if I was freaking you out just now. Just means we have to be a bit more careful, right?” When he looked up again, Liam felt a little relieved, but still worked up, kinda hating himself for having allowed this to happen, for having been so reckless, literally the very first time Niall had come to visit him. Then again… he didn’t regret any of this, not at all. And especially not this day. 

“Yeah… although… no one will be able to figure out who you are from that picture.” Liam tried again, just so that he could be sure Niall wouldn’t view this as a complete disaster or something. Honestly, maybe Liam should have expected it, he should have warned Niall at least, that was for sure. But he had kinda been busy with other things. 

Niall didn’t say anything for a moment, he just looked Liam in the eyes, suddenly leaning forward to peck him on the mouth, only for a second. “Okay… I trust you and… I’ll try to get myself together.”

“You’re doing just fine.” The older man reassured him, which made Niall smile at least, so that was something. 

“Thank you.” Niall told him, sounding quite genuine, and then, right before Liam was able to fully relax again and think of something to change the topic, the younger man was a little faster. “So… about what you said just before…”

“Umm, yeah. Right. I, uh, I wasn’t really, like… planning on saying that right now or- umm… it’s fine if you, like, if you don’t wanna say anything about it, I just kinda… felt like you should know, maybe, and… yeah. Sorry if it came a bit out of nowhere, or if you think I’m, like, going too fast. Or whatever.” So apparently, Liam had forgotten how to speak in the past few minutes.

Again, Niall didn’t say anything at first, so Liam cleared his throat a bit, looking away from him, not really knowing what he was supposed to do or think now, disappointment somehow settling in the depths of his stomach even though… he had no right to feel that, did he? Niall wasn’t at all obliged to say anything back at all. Or even acknowledge it.

“I think I-“

“Daddy, I have to pee.” Right when Niall had been about to answer, he got interrupted by May so suddenly that Liam flinched, not even having noticed that she had woken up or anything. To be fair though, she sounded so sleepy as if it had literally been 2 seconds of her being awake, so… that was something. But still not ideal. What had Niall been about to say?!

“Okay, let’s go to the bathroom.” The younger man threw an apologetic glance at Liam, kissing his cheek though before he walked off with May, leaving Liam behind feeling so many emotions at once that he had no idea really where to place them.

First of all, what had he been thinking telling Niall NOW that he loved him? And second of all… what was he going to do if these pictures weren’t as harmless as he was hoping? Or what if there were indeed more? Or if there’d be more in the future, if they did whatever out in public? 

Obviously Liam found no answers to these questions in the short time that Niall was gone, and upon returning, May was so awake that they had no chance really to talk about it in more depth. Niall definitely was not shy of touching Liam and leaning into him, cuddling up to him, so the older man told himself that he had no reasons to worry, could try to still enjoy those few more hours before they would land and go to sleep.

At least for now.

 

\------------------

 

“So, what happened with those pictures I saw of you guys? Like, the ones that were all over Twitter?” A SLIGHT exaggeration honestly, but Liam refrained from looking at Niall when Louis asked that question.

“Nothing, it wasn’t a big deal and they’re super blurry. Anyways, we weren’t touching or anything, so… “ Liam tried to make it sound like no big deal at all, focusing on building that puzzle with May on the floor though he wasn’t a lot of help. She was definitely more experienced in this than he was.

“Still, people talk and make assumptions and- hang on.” Louis then interrupted himself to take a call and again, Liam just stared straight ahead at the puzzle, May laughing when he didn’t manage to fit a piece after the fifth try or something. 

He and Niall hadn’t talked anymore last night. They hadn’t been alone anymore either because May had been wide awake even after the plane had landed and they had gone back to Niall’s place and after Niall had put her to bed, he and Liam had crashed as well. So then this morning May had woken up before them and then they had had to rush here to Louis’ studio to be on time and long story short, Liam was worried. And he had a few questions.

They were in between bookings now, so they were all hanging out in the spare room Liam had just spent an hour in with May so the people recording wouldn’t see him, but he still preferred being here playing with her over being home and doing something else. Just getting to spend those extra few minutes with or close by Niall was somehow enough for him.

“… Listen, I don’t care, I’m not going to wait forever, I’ve got other things to do, alright?... yeah, whatever, just hurry up.” Louis ended the phone call sounding annoyed as hell. “These kids are running late again, I still don’t know why they keep coming back, they will never be able to sell that album or whatever it’s supposed to be.”

“Why don’t you tell them that?” Was Louis just milking some teens for money or what?

“I have, Niall is my witness. But they wanna keep on coming back and like, I can’t say no just ‘cos they suck, right? It’s their money.” He sighed, leaning back on the couch then and Liam almost hoped they’d move on from the previous topic, but he wasn’t that lucky. “Anyways, I was just wondering if you’re not worried about these pictures. There might be even more.”

“What pictures?” May chirped in, though she seemed very concentrated on the puzzle still.

“It’s not important, love, just some pictures someone took of Liam.” Niall quickly told her, leaving out all the other parts, and Liam briefly looked up at him, not being able to make out what he was thinking though. 

“Oh. Where?” She kept going, so Liam quickly tried to distract her, but it didn’t quite seem to work that well.

“When we were visiting him.” The younger man continued and Liam could hear the slight tension in his voice when he spoke to Louis. “But they’re really blurry. And if someone took even more, they would have surely posted them, right?”

“Maybe, maybe not. I only ever saw them ‘cos someone who works with me asked me about it, as if I’d tell him if it’s worth making it in an article.” Louis laughed, as if that was somehow funny although Liam was kinda relieved that his friend made it sound as if it was obvious that he’d never tell his colleagues to write anything about Liam. It would’ve been quite weird, to be fair. “Anyways, I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“You literally just asked why we’re not worried.” Niall was right though Liam wished he would have let it go. 

“Because I thought you would be worried, but you seem rather relaxed, so keep it that way. You can’t change it anymore now, can you? What’s in the past is-“

“-in the past. Do you have that from Harry?” Niall let out a quick laugh, so Liam dared to look up at him sitting on the couch again, relaxing a little bit. But only until May half stepped on his hand. 

“I might have.” Louis joked, the chair he was sitting on making an awful squeaking sound as he leaned back further. “You know, I think Harry might be onto something with all this stuff. Like, do you guys really think all this was a coincidence, that we all met? I do think everything happens for a reason.”

“So, you’re saying you and Harry are soulmates or something?” Liam made it into a joke, because he was actually afraid this would freak Niall out or something, like Louis implying that maybe they were meant to be or something. Though Liam was very open to these kinda things as well, he wasn’t sure about Niall.

“No, I don’t know, maybe. I just meant maybe we all were meant to meet, for whatever reason, doesn’t mean it’ll end well, maybe it’s just meant to teach us something or so. To me it just seems a little strange is all, a bit too much of a coincidence maybe.” Then he shrugged before he suddenly pushed himself up out of his chair. “Either ways, doesn’t change anything. Who wants coffee?”

“When did you get a coffee machine?” Niall asked and then he and Louis started talking about kitchen homeware and mugs and dishwashers and Liam kinda zoned out. Not because he thought he was above that, more because he was slightly embarrassed that he had no clue about these kinda things, someone usually did them for him.

Instead, he stayed on the floor with May, a little absent as he thought about what Louis had said. And about those pictures and the fact that he had told Niall he loved him, without ever receiving an answer. Maybe he was kinda relieved about that though, because he somehow regretted just telling Niall this way and also he was aware that maybe it had been slightly too soon.

They’d talk about it again eventually.

 

\------------------------

 

“Are you excited for school to start again tomorrow?” Zayn asked May, as if he somehow expected a positive answer to it or as if he didn’t know exactly what it felt like to go back to school after a break.

“No.” May told him, making Niall sigh internally. 

“Me neither.” The other man encouraged her and they both laughed, as if it was some inside joke Niall wasn’t a part of. He kinda wasn’t, not really. “But trust me, it’s gonna get a lot more boring once you grow up and have to work a job like me and your dad.”

“But daddy’s work isn’t boring.” The little girl argued, which was somehow very sweet to Niall, but at the same time didn’t change the fact that a lot of the time he WISHED his jobs were boring, because now they were mostly exhausting. “And maybe I won’t ever have a job like that. Liam doesn’t.”

“So what do you wanna be then?” Zayn wanted to know, and Niall was a little afraid of the answer even though he knew that May was 6 and her ideas would change probably ten more times or even more. It would be kinda expected for her to say to become a singer now or something, since she had spent so much time with Liam and everything.

Except, Niall was wrong.

“A doctor.” May told him, very confidently as well, as if she hadn’t even thought about it. Right, this was the first time Niall had heard this. 

“I like that, it’s always good to know a doctor, I’ll be coming to you then if I need anything. Like, for my burn out that’s approaching. And for when my liver stops working. Possibly my lunges as well.” Zayn was truly impossible sometimes.

“What’s a burn out?” May asked and Niall threw a glare at his friend, but he didn’t even seem to notice. Or care. 

“I’ll tell you once I have first hand experience. Shouldn’t be too long.” Zayn promised, laughing like an idiot when he did finally turn his head to look at Niall. God.

“I can fix it all for you, when I’m older.” The little girl sounded confident, which was nice, but Niall also hoped she wouldn’t go around telling her friends about how her uncle Zayn needed a liver transplant and had to stop working due to stress. 

“Since when do you wanna be a doctor?” This was more out of interest, really, but also a little to get the focus away from Zayn’s problems that May probably shouldn’t have thought about too much. It was bad enough that Zayn had shown up today still hungover from last night. Which was Niall’s fault really for inviting him, he should have expected it. But he hadn’t seen him in a while and also, he could have needed the distraction today so he wouldn’t think about how Liam was off in a whole other country.

“I don’t know, I just thought about it. Then I can help people and then they won’t die.” Right, Niall regretted asking.

“That’s… dark.” Zayn half whispered to Niall, suddenly looking a bit concerned. Understandably. “But good on you, May. You gotta try real hard in school then, so you get good grades.”

“I am. But sometimes it’s still boring.” She shrugged, for a moment looking a lot older than she was, but then that lasted for only a second. “Can I go get my animals, daddy?”

“If you store them all away again in your room afterwards.” He gave in, which was greeted with a squeal before May was already running off to her room, leaving the two men on the couch. “Can you please not talk to her about this stuff?”

“It was just a joke, she knows that. She doesn’t even know what I was talking about anyways. And how cool that she’s so ambitious, right?” He tried to make Niall less upset, so the younger man tried to get it together, shrugging before nodding. “I mean, her reasons are kinda obvious, but… can’t blame her that she’s been confronted with these things already.”

“Not directly, but yeah, I guess. I’m just kind of happy she didn’t say she wants to be famous like Liam.” Truly, because even though maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t actually be as unattainable for her now that she somehow already had the connections, but who knew what would happen between Niall and Liam in the future?

“Then you could quit your jobs though, that’d be fun.” Zayn joked and Niall rolled his eyes, half expecting May to come around the corner again any second, but he could still hear her going about her room, probably emptying every single drawer or something. “Where’s Liam today, anyways? Like, what country?”

“Portugal.” Niall told him, kinda not wanting to talk about it even though he knew it was childish. He missed him, already, so damn much. Visiting him on tour and everything else that had happened, them sleeping together and Liam telling Niall he _loved_ him… there was no way out of this now, they were in too deep. “If you’ve seen the pictures from Vienna as well, just please don’t tell me.”

“Okay, I wasn’t planning on bringing them up anyways. I only recognized you because I knew it was you, so. Don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” Well, now it wasn’t anymore that a few days had passed and no more pictures had emerged, so Niall felt guilty for ever having freaked out like he had. And mostly for never giving Liam an answer to what he had said on the plane back home. “Next time you should ask him if you could invite a friend.”

“Did you wanna come? Liam wouldn’t mind.” Niall was a little surprised by that, but he also wasn’t sure if maybe Zayn had just been joking or not.

“Nah. Unless he’d fly you out to America or something, I wouldn’t say no to that.” He laughed, causing Niall’s stomach to twist a bit because he was terrified of Liam going off to another continent after barely being able to stand not seeing him a few days in a row. “But I assume Harry and Louis would possibly come as well, so that wouldn’t work out.“

“I thought you liked Louis.” Had he not said that? Niall had somehow forgotten, all these things seemed to slip his mind ever since he was so busy thinking about his and Liam’s relationship all the time. 

“I do, from what I remember from that night. But Harry.” Was all Zayn said and Niall almost rolled his eyes to the back of his head while his friend just sat there laughing, playfully giving him a soft shove. “I’m joking. A bit.”

“I think you’d get along, if you both got your heads out of your a-“

“Daddy, I can’t find them!” May was yelling from the other room, luckily saving Niall from finishing that word. 

“They’re under your bed.” Niall half yelled back just because he didn’t wanna get up right now, not when there was no reason to.

There was no answer, but May came back just a second later with her plastic animals, the whole entire box and they’d be missing bed time again tonight, but what was new?

“Did you make a mess in your room searching for them?” As if Niall didn’t already know.

“Ummm… no.” She decided, emptying the whole box right in front of Niall on the floor and he resisted the urge to get upset. As long as she’d collect them all again later, it’d be just fine. “Are we gonna talk to Liam today?”

“Yeah, he’s gonna Facetime a bit later. But he knows when you have to be in bed, don’t worry.” May was always very concerned about that, had made sure to remind Liam herself that he needed to call when she was still awake. Obviously their bond made Niall’s heart melt, though it also worried him because he knew if he and Liam ever broke up, it’d break her heart because she had gotten so attached, seeing him almost like something like a parent. Exactly why Niall had been hesitant all her life to get involved with someone, and now… now it was too late to still worry about the what if. 

“Does he call every night?” Zayn asked, which wasn’t a good idea, but whatever.

“No. But now that he’s away for days at a time… “ Niall made some movement with his hand, as a sign that he didn’t wanna talk about it in too much detail. Also, they were texting throughout the day anyways, but May didn’t have to be too aware of that. 

“When are we going to his concert again?” If Niall had gotten one pound for every time May asked this question, he would have become rich in literally no time.

“Not anytime soon, May, you’ve got school. And I have to work, you know that.” Liam did have London concerts before he’d be off to the States, but Niall hadn’t talked to May about that yet, he didn’t want to hype her up and then maybe have something get in the way. “What are you doing to your poor animals?”

“They are in a zoo, there’s a cage so they don’t eat each other.” The little girl explained, luckily already distracted again and Niall watched her building cages out of some legos before sharing a look with Zayn, who had luckily decided to keep quiet for now. “Maybe I wanna be a doctor for animals instead.”

“You’ve still got enough time to decide on that.” Niall assured her, secretly hoping that she would stick to her high ambitions though of course he would have supported anything she wanted to do in life. Somehow though, thinking about the future scared him a little ever since Liam had come into their lives and Niall didn’t like that, but he also couldn’t help it. There was just so much uncertainty surrounding that and it was making him feel uneasy inside.

At the same time though, Niall knew that it was a small price to pay if everything turned out just fine in the end, if he had truly found someone in Liam who he’d be able to spend the rest of his life with. But he couldn’t have ever been sure, with anybody, so he was forced to wait and see.

 

\------------------------

 

“Fuck, Liam… “ Niall was a little bit too loud, but Liam didn’t wanna tell him to be more quiet because he just enjoyed all these noises he was getting out of him way too much. “ _Shit_ … that’s so- _fuck_ \- good… “

“Never heard you swear this much before.” Liam pulled off of the younger man’s erection, which was followed by a whine, but he kept his fist around Niall, slowly jerking him off, spreading is own saliva. Just looking up at Niall like this, skin all flushed and eyes pressed shut, his mouth just a little opened… Liam could have stared forever. 

“S-Shut up… “ The younger man half choked out, moaning again when Liam quickened his pace a little as he let out a breathless laugh before leaning down once more to lick over the head of Niall’s swollen red erection, tasting him before taking him into his mouth again. He would have done this much sooner had the younger man let him. Or had they seen each other more often. “L-Li… ‘m g-gonna… “

Ignoring Niall’s whines, Liam just kept going, bobbing his head while working the base with his fist so he wouldn’t choke, not pulling off when the younger man started to come into his mouth, his fingers undoubtedly breaking skin on Liam’s arm that he had been holding onto. It felt so fucking satisfying to give Niall these feelings, take care of him, be the first one to do this to him in so long. Not that that mattered, but it just meant Niall’s reactions were even more heavy and Liam just fucking _loved_ that.

Liam worked Niall through his orgasm until the younger man gently pushed at his head, probably because he was starting to feel sensitive, so Liam sat back up, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. He hadn’t quite swallowed everything and judging by the looks on Niall’s face, the younger man would have preferred he would have swallowed nothing at all.

“Sorry.” Niall blurted out, which confused Liam as he let himself fall into the empty space next to his boyfriend. “I tried to warn y-“

“I know. Why are you saying sorry? I wanted it.” Liam shrugged, almost wanting to let his eyes fall closed when Niall started threading his fingers through his hair, all gentle and slow, giving him goosebumps across his whole body. He had gotten Liam off first, wanking him, and yeah, Liam could have probably gone again in a few minutes, but he was content just lying here for now. 

“It’s been ages since I sucked anyone off, in my teens, but… I never liked the taste.” Niall told him and it had to sink in for a second until Liam was laughing. “Don’t know how you’re not gagging.”

“I’d say you probably eat a hundred times healthier than any teen and you don’t drink alcohol. And you know of personal hygiene. It wasn’t actually bad at a-“

“Oh my god, please don’t say you liked it now.” The younger man was honestly pulling a face when Liam opened his eyes for a moment, highly amused as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend to have him closer. Being apart for a few days, Liam was even more appreciative of this moment right here, them just lying in his bed, skin against skin, only focused on each other. Trying not to think of tomorrow.

“Maybe I did. Do you want to try i-“

“No, stop.” Niall sounded panicked for a second as he quickly covered Liam’s mouth with his palm to keep him from kissing him, only making the older man laugh even more. He truly hadn’t thought Niall would act this way about something like this. 

“Do I have to go and brush my teeth now before I can kiss you again?” Liam asked, all amused still and the younger man rolled his eyes, only resisting for a second when Liam tried to kiss his cheek before letting him. Then again and again, just because he could. 

“Hmmm… no, I don’t want you to get up.” Niall told him more quietly, rubbing his hand over the older’s arm that was wrapped around him before turning a bit, so they were both on their sides, looking at each other. “Just don’t put your tongue in my mouth.”

“I can’t believe you’re this worried about it.” The older man laughed quietly before closing the tiny gap between them to peck Niall’s lips, holding him more tightly so their faces were still almost touching, lips brushing a little when Liam whispered. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Niall whispered back, his voice sounding a little sad, but it was hard to tell because of how quiet he was. “I’m gonna miss you even more tomorrow.”

“I’ll only be gone for two day this time.” Which was still too much, or so it felt like at least. Somehow it got harder and harder to be away from Niall for like, longer than a day, and Liam knew that it would only get harder instead of easier and that it was because their relationship was definitely deepening, but he still couldn’t change any of it. “I’ll bring you back a souvenir.”

“Like what?” The younger man seemed to like that idea though Liam had kinda been joking, but now he was _definitely_ going to do it.

“I don’t know yet, it’s a surprise. I’ll get something for May as well so you won’t have to share.” He chuckled, knowing that Niall would have rolled his eyes right now if he had had them open. “And I promise I’ll Facetime. If you have time.”

“I always have time for that…. maybe not at May’s preferred times, but… “ Right, last time two days ago, Liam hadn’t had time to call Niall until after his concert and May had made sure to share her disappointment with him today. Almost as soon as she and Niall had walked through Liam’s front door a few hours ago. 

It had all been good though when Liam had suggested they order pizza and he had definitely been forgiven when he had convinced Niall to let May watch some Paw Patrol afterwards. She was now asleep in Liam’s spare room, which had taken quite a bit actually, but by now Liam was a pro at reading bedtime stories anyways and Niall just seemed happy that he got a break from it once a while. 

“We’ll make it work so everyone is happy.” Liam joked, but at the same time he really wanted it to be true because it had broken his heart a little to hear May’s disappointment over not having gotten to talk to him as well. Sometimes Liam wasn’t completely aware of how attached she had grown to him until Niall reminded him, and Liam wondered whether the younger man minded that, but he had never said anything concerning that. 

“That’d be nice.” Niall closed the gap between their lips again and honestly, Liam had expected a lot lighter topic to follow, if any at all. “How’s your album coming along? I haven’t asked in a while.”

“It’s… coming along.” It was, sometimes, whenever Liam had random bursts of inspiration. Or time. “It should’ve been almost done by now, so I could at least have a single before next month, but… I don’t know. It takes time.”

“Am I distracting you?” Niall asked, sounding quite serious with his question and Liam’s initial reaction was to immediately say no, but… well, the truth was, a lot of things were distracting him, Niall included. 

“Not in a bad way. Also, it’s not like I can’t take my time, it’s better this way anyways and I’m busy on tour and stuff, so. I’ll get it done eventually.” In a few months. Or so. 

“You should show me some of it sometime. If you want.” Niall suggested out of nowhere and honestly, this had never crossed Liam’s mind before.

“Really? I never thought you even liked my music.” He didn’t… did he?

“I never minded it, only whenever May wanted to listen to the same songs over and over again, but she’s not doing it that much anymore and… I really like hearing them come on randomly on the radio now. Like, hearing your voice and stuff, so that’s nice. And I’m kinda interested in your album process as well.” Now Liam had a genuine knot in his throat, but he tried to swallow around it. 

“Yeah, of course, I would’ve offered a lot sooner if I had known you wanted that. I can show you everything you want.” Obviously, Liam would be more than happy to do that. Except… well, except maybe a song or two that clearly showed how much he had been thinking about Niall while writing, so… those probably also wouldn’t make the album though. “You gotta be honest though, if you think they suck.”

“But I know nothing about this stuff. Like, whether it would sell or not, I can only tell you whether I personally like it. Do you ever play your stuff to Louis and ask for his opinion?” Well, about that…

“Sometimes, yeah. But… he’s a bit _too_ brutally honest. In both ways though. We’ve also been writing together in the past, it was kind of fun but we don’t do it all the time… have you ever written a song? I mean, you can play guitar and everything. I’ve never heard you play.” Now that Liam thought about it… “Maybe we should do a writing session.”

“What, me and you? I’m not that good with words.” Niall sounded very surprised, but also not completely opposed to the idea and suddenly Liam really wanted it to happen. Though until they’d both have time… it’d be quite a while. “I used to try and write songs when I was younger but I quickly realized I’m better at just playing.”

“That could still work though. And I gotta hear you play sometime as well, I can’t believe I haven’t.” Truly, but Niall never really mentioned it and as far as Liam was aware, he also didn’t give lessons too often. 

“I’m not that great, but I’ll play for you if you want. Don’t know if I’d be of any help writing songs though.” He laughed a bit, but Liam was still obsessed with the idea all of a sudden. Well, not right at this second because it was really late and he’d have to literally leave in the morning, but… in the near future. “Or do you just want someone else to do all your work for you?”

“Yeah, you caught me.” Liam playfully rolled his eyes, smirking before kissing the younger man yet again, feeling that having to part from him would have physically hurt him. Luckily, he didn’t have to. 

Their kiss did turn into something a little more, but nothing too urgent because they were both getting a bit tired. Maybe Liam enjoyed this even more though, just them kissing softly while lying in each other’s arms, touching each other wherever they could reach and simply making the most of the time they had together. It’s not like they spent a terribly long time apart whenever Liam was gone, but it still seemed like it.

Honestly, Liam was kinda thinking that they’d just eventually go to sleep after snogging a bit longer because it was getting late, but that didn’t quite go the way he had planned.

He almost didn’t hear the very soft knock on the closed bedroom door and it was actually Niall who gently broke the kiss with a hand against the older’s shoulder. “Did you hear th-“

“Daddy?” They could both hear May’s voice very clearly though it was quiet, and Liam felt himself panic a little inside because they were both completely undressed, but Niall seemed rather calm as he slipped out from underneath him and out of bed, putting on his pants and quickly throwing Liam the second pair. Thank god May had waited outside instead of just bursting into the room. But then again, when had she ever done that?

“Are you okay, love?” Niall asked as soon as he had opened the door, after making sure Liam was dressed again as well, revealing a very tired but also sad looking May as she was twisting her stuffed bunny in her hands. 

“I don’t wanna be alone.” She told him, sniffing a bit and luckily Niall went to pick her up immediately because Liam would have done it otherwise. The little girl wrapped her arms and legs around Niall immediately, resting her head on his shoulder and Liam could feel the sight pulling on every single one of his heartstrings. 

“Did you have a bad dream again?” Niall asked as he closed the bedroom door, bringing her back to bed and Liam remembered last second to get rid of the tissue they had used to clean themselves up a bit before, clearly causing Niall to suppress a laugh when he noticed. 

“No… the bed is so big and the closet is scary.” May told him quietly as Niall sat down on the mattress with her, moving her into his lap instead while Liam was mentally making plans to go and get a different closet. Or maybe it would have also just helped to spend the night at Niall’s, but because Liam would have to leave so early and the distance to the airport differed, they had decided it made more sense this way. “Can I sleep here with you?”

When she asked, Niall suddenly looked over to Liam, as if he was silently asking whether it was alright and Liam was honestly just surprised that this seemed to be completely okay for the younger man. Like, not in the sense that Liam had anything against it or whatever, he actually kinda really liked the fact that somehow it was all becoming a little like Louis had jokingly said a while ago. As if they were a family almost. 

So Liam of course made sure to nod, to show Niall that it was completely okay and the younger man looked a bit apologetic before looking back down at his daughter. “Of course you can. But maybe it would also help if I lie in bed with you for a bit, until you fall asleep? Would that make you less scared?”

“No.” May told him immediately, shaking her head a bit as Niall stroked her hair and Liam tried not to smile right now. She sure did know what she wanted and how to get it.

“Okay, then… but you still gotta go back to sleep if you’re staying here, okay?” This time, she nodded without hesitation, as if she was just glad that Niall was actually letting her stay. “Alright, c’mon.”

He moved her a bit, to his previous side of the bed while he himself moved more into the middle and Liam made sure to make some space also so it’d all work. His bed was really big though, so that helped, like, it would have probably also fit 4 people. Not that he wanted to try that.

“I don’t know if I can sleep.” May brought up the by now usual worries that Niall ignored very successfully as he tucked her in with the second blanket because he and Liam would share one anyways so it would’ve been a spare one. And judging by how comfortable May had made herself on the pillow, Niall and Liam would also be sharing the other one. “Can we say goodbye to Liam tomorrow morning?”

“Of course you can.” Liam threw in, reminded to check his alarm on his phone again, just in case. “But you can also sleep longer if you’re too tired, I have to leave quite early.”

“We’ll see. But you get to say goodbye either way, don’t worry.” Niall told her and Liam knew that the younger man would insist on leaving the same time Liam had to leave even though the older man had told him multiple times that it’d be fine if they stayed longer because he had a few spare keys anyways. Maybe Niall would change his mind in the morning though because they didn’t have a lot of time left to sleep. “Now close your eyes, okay? There’s nothing to be afraid of, me and Liam are here.”

May let out quite an annoyed sounding sigh that almost made Liam laugh, he wasn’t watching her anymore, but judging by how Niall didn’t have to repeat himself, she had done what he had told her after all, so they both tried to be as quiet as possible. They had already turned off all the lights except the one on Liam’s bedside table before, so it wasn’t too bright for May to sleep and Niall kept stroking her hair while Liam tried not to fall asleep in the meantime as well.

It only took around 10 minutes or so before Niall moved a bit to fully lie down next to Liam again, gratefully cuddling up to him underneath the blanket when the older man pulled it over both of them. “I think she’s gonna try and do this every night now, I shouldn’t have given in.”

“But she sounded really scared.” Liam whispered back, pressing his lips against the younger man’s forehead as he just held him, stroking his bare back. Honestly, no one would have been able to say no to the face that May pulled whenever she really wanted something. “I’ll give her the other guest room next time.”

“They look identical.” Niall reminded him, and yeah, that was kinda true, but… whatever. 

“I can switch out the clos-“

“Liam, that’s really not necessary, if she keeps on doing it I just won’t allow it and she’s gonna accept it eventually. Maybe she really was scared tonight for some reason… and luckily she didn’t just walk right in.” Liam kinda wondered what Niall would have done then, which reminded him yet again that he was relieved that the younger man was the one who was doing all the parenting and didn’t expect Liam to like, know all the answers or do everything right whenever he spent time with May. “And didn’t come a bit earlier.”

“Yeah… but it’s okay, I don’t mind it at all, you never have to ask me that.” Just so he knew, because of his hesitation from before. “I just want you here with me, that’s all I care about.” 

“Thank you… I’m still sorry though that we had to interrupt that kiss.” The younger man told him, making it sound like a joke but there was also a lot of honesty in his words. Maybe Liam was a little sad as well, but he’d live. “We can continue it in the morning though, right?”

“If you really wanna get up this early just to snog me.” Liam joked but he felt very honored at the same time.

“I’d love nothing more.” Niall told him before stretching a bit until he could kiss him, softly and briefly, but still lingering longer than for a peck. Deepening it would have felt way too inappropriate now, so that was enough for Liam. “You know what I was wondering, like, since a really long time now but I never really asked.”

“What?” The older man was slightly confused by the change of topic, brushing his fingers down the younger’s cheek and then his neck as well, playing with the hair by his ear. 

“What did May write in that letter? The one she gave to you at the Meet and Greet months ago and put that bracelet in? She never let me read it.” Wait… seriously?

“She wrote that by herself?” Liam asked with his eyebrows pulled up, a little impressed if he thought back to that letter.

“Yeah, why? Was it that good?” Now Niall was surprised also and Liam felt a bit bad because, well, maybe he had made it sound more exciting than it was. “What did she write?”

“Not that much, she also drew a lot, I’d show it to you, but I don’t wanna get up. She just wrote that she loves me and that my songs are super cool, of course” Liam joked, smiling when Niall rolled his eyes at him. “and then a few things I wasn’t able to read and I think she wasn’t sure what she was writing either, but… yeah, and that you took her to another concert of mine before that and, yeah, she also signed her name. Like, she didn’t write it that coherently, but I think I got most of it. Remind me to show it to you sometime.”

“I can’t believe you actually kept it. Or read it. Like, you know how worried I was when she told me she put that bracelet in there so she could be sure you’d actually read it? It was nerve wrecking.” Niall laughed quietly and honestly, Liam could imagine how he must have felt and he had never been more grateful about having read a fan letter. 

“I read it because I wasn’t in the best state of mind and it made me feel better somehow because I thought it was just really cute, so that’s also why I put on the bracelet and then I went to sleep with it and I wasn’t even really aware I was still wearing it for days after until you pointed it out in the taxi. I still kept it as well, actually… I think May also wrote that she made it herself.” Liam hadn’t read that letter in months, but because of everything that had happened, obviously it had stayed in his memory, and quite prominently as well. “It’s crazy, all these coincidences… “

“Or not, as Harry would say. And Louis as well now. But I gotta admit… it _was_ a lot of coincidence.” Truly, maybe Liam was more with Harry and Louis on this, but he kept quiet for now, pressing his face into the younger’s hair. “I can’t believe my daughter wrote her first love letter to my boyfriend. Did she really write it that explicitly?”

“That she loves me? I mean, she drew a heart instead of the word, don’t know if that changes anything.” A quite wobbly heart that had made Liam laugh, then and even still now. God, that letter had really brightened his whole day back then. 

“Only makes it worse.” Niall joked, his hand rubbing over Liam’s chest and stomach, giving him goosebumps. “… Liam?”

“Yeah?” The older man had to actually hold back a yawn right at this second though after what Niall said, he surely wasn’t tired at all anymore.

“I love you too.” He said it out of nowhere, almost causing Liam to choke because he had definitely not been expecting to hear this, especially not after they had never really talked about Liam saying it on that plane back home again. So Liam wasn’t actually sure if Niall was referring to that or to what his daughter had written in the letter, however… it’s not like it mattered.

“Really?” Liam couldn’t help but ask that question because he was so taken aback, happiness spreading in his heart though when the younger man lifted his head to smile down at him. 

“Really. I’m sorry I waited so long to tell you… I was a little stressed out after those pictures came out.” He admitted, but Liam didn’t really care that Niall’s answer had been late, because as long as he truly meant it, that was all he needed. “But I don’t care whatever else happens, I just wanna be with you and I think you going away on tour sucks but it also showed me how much you really mean to me, so… it’s a good thing.”

“I love you.” Liam told him, again, just so he knew and Niall laughed fondly as he connected their lips. 

“I know.” He broke the kiss for just a second so he could whisper against the older’s lips and Liam felt that maybe leaving tomorrow would be even harder now, but maybe also a little bit easier in some ways.

 

\------------------------

 

If Niall was being honest then life wasn’t mind blowing great, but it was going a lot better than he could have ever hoped for months ago. And he had thought he had been happy back then, but really, a lot had changed since meeting Liam. Even if only seeing him sporadically was still taking a huge toll on Niall, especially since he had left to tour the States and May was almost on summer break from school, so she had been asking a lot about going to visit Liam again.

They had been there for his London shows not too long, which had been great of course because Niall always loved seeing Liam perform, but now it already felt like too long in the past again. Niall couldn’t change it though, he had responsibilities here and he couldn’t just go off to jet to another continent with a 6-year-old. Or almost 7 now, but still.

“… do you wanna finish that, May? If your dad allows it.” Harry quickly added the second part, throwing a look at Niall, who just shrugged because May could definitely have that half a cupcake Harry didn’t seem to want anymore.

“Yes! Thank you.” May seemed more than happy, not even waiting for Niall’s approval before getting into it, stopping for a moment then. “You can have half of it, Louis.”

“Oh, thank you.” The oldest man laughed though they had all noticed his quite obvious stare at it, the little girl included. “I’ll just have one bite and you can have the rest, yeah?”

“Okay.” May sounded happy with that solution and of course they could have just gotten more, but they had already been at this café for an hour and Niall wasn’t sure how much longer he wanted to stay. It was pouring outside though, despite the fact that it was in the middle of July, so he wasn’t sure what else they would have been doing today. Whoever had booked into the studio to record had cancelled, so then Louis had had the idea to come here and invite Harry as well and Niall had had May with him anyways, so here they all were. “It tastes weird.”

“It’s sugar free.” Niall told her, suppressing a laugh when he saw the look on her face. “It’s good for you.”

“It doesn’t taste very good.” Now she sounded disappointed and Harry pretended to be upset but Niall could see the smile tugging on his lips. 

“Louis would happily eat the rest.” He didn’t look very excited about it either though, to be fair, it seemed they had both expected something different. “Are you not gonna finish it?”

“Umm… “ May made, very quickly looking at Harry, as if she wasn’t allowed to say no or so and then she really did push the plate over to Louis, with a very smart argument. “No, thank you. I wanna share it with Louis.”

“Thank you so much, May.” Louis laughed though he didn’t reach out for it anymore either. “I think I’m kinda full though, so… “

“You guys are impossible.” Harry threw in before reaching out to just eat it himself and Niall laughed, petting May’s head next to him, tangling his fingers through her messed up hair. They had gotten in the rain before, so at least it wasn’t damp anymore. “So, I assume you don’t want cupcakes like that for your birthday, May? I already had the perfect recipe.”

“Uh, my daddy always makes a cake for me.” She tried to talk herself out of it, sounding a little guilty and Niall took pity on her. 

“I don’t think we’re gonna need any cupcakes, thanks though. You’re gonna help me make the cake though, right, love?” It was always a huge mess and Niall wondered each year why he did this to himself, but now that May was getting older… maybe it’d go better. She was so excited about it though and it was her birthday after all, so of course Niall was happy to do it.

“Yes, it’s gonna be so much fun. And Liam is coming as well, right, daddy?” He was, he had promised her when she had asked him like a week ago and ever since, she hadn’t been talking about anything else. Liam didn’t have a concert that day, but he’d literally have to leave again that same night and he was just doing it for her. Obviously he wasn’t going to come to her actual birthday party with some of her friends a few days later, but they usually always did two, sometimes even three. “He promised.”

“He did.” Niall confirmed, because he had though Niall had told him he definitely didn’t have to, that he would talk to May and explain it to her, but somehow the older man had been very determined. And Niall couldn’t say he was unhappy about seeing him on an extra day. 

“Can uncle Harry and Louis come as well?” May asked and Niall nodded, not sure if they wanted to, but he didn’t think they’d have much of a choice. 

“Well, we’d love to come. Right, babe?” Harry looked over at Louis, who actually didn’t seem that opposed to it either when he agreed immediately, so that was great. “I haven’t seen Liam in ages.”

“He’s coming home in like 3 days, right? But I think he reserved all that time for Niall already, sorry, babe.” Louis joked and Niall felt his heart skipping a few beats thinking about it. He hadn’t seen Liam in a WEEK. Like, a full actual week and he wasn’t even sure how he had survived that. Or how he’d survive not seeing him again afterwards until May’s birthday. 

“Aw shoot, then I’m gonna be stuck with just you.” Harry told him sarcastically, but he laughed at the face Louis pulled and leaned over to kiss him, and before May could comment on it, because she sometimes did, she seemed to have seen something completely different.

“Look, it’s uncle Zayn!” She squealed in delight, and Niall only realized that she was right when she had already hopped off her chair. It really was Zayn who had just walked into the café. 

“May, slow down.” Was all Niall brought out, but she had already half skipped over to him anyways. “She’s gonna ask him to come sit with us.”

“Well, that’s fine, right?” Louis asked Harry after they had both turned around for a moment to confirm that it really was Zayn. 

“I mean, for _me_ , yes.” Harry shrugged, not looking too thrilled but somewhat neutral about it and Niall hoped that May being here would prevent them from being too unfriendly with each other. If Zayn even decided to join. 

Niall waved at him, watching from his chair to make sure May was alright, but she was holding onto Zayn’s hand telling him something while he ordered, so Niall relaxed. Harry looked rather calm, but he usually did and it was more Zayn who loved to start these discussions with him that never ended too well, but maybe, just maybe, today wouldn’t be like that.

As expected, May dragged Zayn back to their table, looking more than just excited to have them all here together. “Uncle Zayn can sit here with us, right?”

“Of course. Hi.” Niall briefly got up to give him half a hug, throwing a somewhat warning glance at him that the other man chose to ignore. “If he wants to.”

“I’d love to, but I can’t stay for very long, I still got some essays to grade. Hi, guys.” Zayn greeted Louis and Harry with a nod and Niall hoped Louis wouldn’t start laughing over the whole situation because he looked very close to doing it. 

So Zayn sat on May’s previous chair next to Niall, lifting her onto his lap instead because they were missing one chair now and May seemed very thrilled about it either ways. 

“How’s everything?” Zayn asked, kinda generally to all of them and everyone seemed to have decided to behave somewhat civilized with each other, so Niall relaxed. It’s not that Harry and Zayn ever got into like, yelling fights or whatever, they just clashed usually, and Niall actually doubted that May even knew that they didn’t get along so well, so that really spoke for them, actually.

They all talked a bit about work and life and whatnot, and Niall did take part, but he was slightly distracted when Liam texted him out of nowhere, as if he had somehow sensed that they had been talking about him before, that Niall had been thinking about him. But when was he not, actually?

Of course Niall was excited when Liam asked if he’d be able to talk right now, so Niall excused himself from the table, which no one seemed to really take notice of anyways because they were talking and stuff. For once actually getting along, or so it seemed at least, maybe they were just doing it for May, but either ways, Niall was grateful.

Liam called almost immediately after Niall told him that he was free to talk, walking somewhere to the back next to the bathrooms where there were no people sitting before picking up, feeling a smile forming on his face. God, he missed Liam. “Hi, Li.”

“Hi, babe. How are you?” He sounded a little off, probably because it was much earlier in the day for him though, so Niall didn’t think anything of it, he just thought about how good it felt to hear his voice. They talked every day, but still.

“I’m good, I miss you.” Niall blurted out because, well, he DID.

“I miss you too…. What’re you doing?” There was some movement in the background and Niall was actually certain that Liam was still lying in bed. Or had gotten back into it, and just thinking about how much he wanted to be there with him right now was making him sad.

“Nothing, me and Louis were supposed to be at the studio but then these guys cancelled on us, so we went to some café… Harry joined as well. And actually, May just spotted Zayn and made him sit with us, so that’s gonna be interesting.” Niall laughed, throwing a look across the whole place to where everyone was sitting, still having fun though it seemed. “And you? How are you?”

“I’m good as well, just tired. The usual.” When Liam laughed, Niall could feel it all over his body. Three more days. “I, um, I got an interview in a bit so I actually have to get ready, but… I have to tell you something and I wanted to do it now because otherwise I can’t concentrate.”

“Oh. Okay?” Now Niall’s happiness got a bit overshadowed by the fact that Liam seemed to actually not want to talk about it, whatever it was. Oh god, what if… “Are you… are you coming home later than planned?”

“No, no, I’m coming, I promise.” Liam quickly told him, so then Niall relaxed again as he leaned against some empty table, thinking that whatever it was, he’d be able to handle it then. Or not. “It’s uh… it’s about May’s birthday.”

“Oh.” Was all Niall brought up and if he was being honest with himself, then Liam didn’t have to continue. He wouldn’t be able to come, would he? 

“Look, I… I’m going to tell her myself when I’m there, I’ll explain it to her. I’m so sorry, I have to attend a show that day, I tried to switch everything around, but they told me today that it won’t be possible.” He sounded sorry, and guilty, and as if he truly had tried to make it work, and Niall felt sad but also… he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me.” Niall told him, but it came out a bit harsher than intended.

“I know… fuck. I know I promised her I would come, I truly thought I could, I didn’t just say it, I’d never do that to her, or you. I’ll talk to them again, maybe there’s something we can do.” There wasn’t, Niall already knew it and he also knew Liam was just trying to make it sound better than it was now. “I’ll talk to May when I’m home in a few days, okay? I’ll explain it to her.”

“Okay… I won’t say anything for now.” Mostly because Niall didn’t wanna make her unhappy just yet when she was so excited and… shit, this was gonna ruin everything for her, he just knew it and he knew he wasn’t being fair to Liam, but he couldn’t hold back. “You shouldn’t have promised her, if it wasn’t certain.”

“I know… but I can’t take it back now.” Liam had actually promised her _multiple_ times, so that made it even worse and Niall could tell in his voice that it was hard on him, but he had kinda gotten himself in that situation really. “I really am sorry. I’ll bring her back-“

“You know it’s not about the presents.” Undoubtedly Liam’s presents would go beyond what she expected anyways, Niall was certain of that, but it still wouldn’t make up for Liam’s absence on her birthday. 

“Do you think she’s gonna understand?” Liam sounded helpless and Niall felt bad for him, but at the same time he felt even worse for May. 

“I don’t know… she’s surely gonna pretend it’s alright.” But she’d be hurt, of course she would be, she was a little girl and she loved Liam and he was about to break maybe the first real promise he had given to her. For her birthday. 

“We can make up for it, I’ll come as soon as possible afterwards.” He tried and Niall just agreed because he didn’t know what else to say. Not only would he not be there for May’s birthday then… but he also wouldn’t be here in general, for over two weeks. Maybe even three, who knew? “I’m so sorry, I have to go, can I call you again later?”

“Yeah… ‘course.” Niall told him, not feeling as enthusiastic as usual and he was aware that Liam could probably hear it in his voice but that he had no time to keep on talking to him. 

“I love you.” The older man told him, sounding very genuine and honest and though Niall hesitated for a moment, he did answer of course.

“I love you.” And then, because it was true, he continued even if his heart felt heavy. “Good luck for your interview.”

“Thank you… I’ll try to call soon, okay? I love you.” Liam told him again, as if he had forgotten he had already said it, and then the call had ended before Niall could have replied.

He did end up going to the bathroom afterwards, just to calm down a bit, get his facial expressions under control and his thoughts, but obviously when he walked back to the table and heard what May had to say, it made all of that work undone.

“Daddy, uncle Zayn said he’d also come for my birthday.” She was grinning big, still sitting on Zayn’s lap and Niall forced himself to smile.

“That’s great, love.” He lied, hoping that nobody would ask who had called him just now. “Do you want another hot chocolate?”

Of course she did, so Niall made sure to walk away again, simply wanting to have a few more moments to himself. This was really the very first time that Liam’s whole lifestyle was getting in the way, so much that it ended up hurting May, and Niall couldn’t help the doubts arising again, because this was how it would always be like. 

Liam’s career would always have priority, and it should, to him, so would this really work, long term? They had been together for only about 3 months, so what else was there to come in the future? More tours, more work, more Liam being somewhere in the world and Niall living his life somewhere away from him. It wasn’t Liam’s fault, and Niall didn’t expect him to change anything for him, that would’ve been wrong and selfish, but he himself still had to make the right decisions for his own sake, and for May’s. 

He loved Liam, truly, but what if he wasn’t the one? And if he wasn’t, wouldn’t it have been a lot better to come to that realization now where it wouldn’t leave any permanent damage because it was still a secret?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this is late and also sorry for the ending, but something had to happen eventually, you know me :p i hope you guys still enjoyed the chapter, let me know your thoughts if you want <3
> 
> i was going to say happy easter but then i remembered its not easter until a week from now but i still already ate my chocolate bunny my grandma gave me soooo, yeah! i have no self control. i officially got my first bachelors degree this week though so at least i managed that lmao.
> 
> hope you all have a great week & hopefully youre also on break now like me or at least dont have too much coming up! love you guys!


	16. Chapter 16

Liam had tried, he really had, but he hadn’t managed to work out the issue with May’s birthday, so needless to say, he felt like absolute shit about it ever since he had first found out. And then of course Niall’s reaction hadn’t been the best either and Liam really and genuinely got it, but he simply didn’t know what to do about it. How was he going to look at May and break her heart like that, after promising that he would be there for her birthday, multiple times?

Honestly, if Liam were in Niall’s shoes right now, he would have been mad at him as well. Not that Niall really showed it openly, maybe it was just in Liam’s imagination that their phone conversations were getting shorter and their texts less frequent. But it were really only 3 days, so it was hard to tell and Liam felt so guilty anyways that he could hardly focus on anything else.

So when he came home after literally the longest time ever sitting on a plane because nothing was going according to schedule, he was almost nervous to see Niall, and May, and he really hated feeling this way, but he also couldn’t help it.

Because of the time difference, Liam was really exhausted, but it was only like 2 in the afternoon so he had to stay awake. And he also wanted to, obviously, because he wanted to go see Niall, it was just… he hadn’t really thought about how to break the bad news to May yet. Well, he HAD thought about it, he just hadn’t decided on how to do it, somehow still hoping to get a phone call that he didn’t have to attend this show after all. 

It didn’t come though, at least not in those hours Liam fought to stay awake until Niall texted him that he was home from work now. Maybe it was a little stupid to drive while this exhausted, but suddenly Liam wasn’t sure anymore if Niall wanted him to sleep over or not. 

Walking up those steps of the building Niall lived in felt so familiar by now, Liam could have done it with closed eyes. He had also encountered every other person who lived in the building by now, and hadn’t gotten recognized by anyone, so that was nice. Or maybe they just didn’t like him or something. 

The second before Niall opened the door, Liam suddenly felt his heart speeding up and his palms becoming sweaty, both from nervousness and happiness. He had missed Niall so damn much while being away for this long, and with the prospect of being gone even longer next time… Liam didn’t even want to think about it.

“Hi.” Niall looked happy when he opened the door, which was such a relief that Liam didn’t even say anything at all, he simply took another step forward, cupping the younger man’s face and pressing their lips together within like 2 seconds. 

The younger man was clearly surprised, but he eased into it immediately, kissing Liam back still almost in the hallway, but neither of them seemed to care right in this moment. Niall tasted even better than in Liam’s memory, and honestly, he might have started crying had May not come to interrupt them. 

“Liam!” She was half shouting at him, wrapping her arms around him as far as that was possible while he was still close to Niall and the two men were forced to break the kiss. 

“Hi, love, how are you?” Liam asked her, a little breathless still, letting his arm slip to keep Niall close though as he petted May’s head with his free hand, his nervousness easing a little. Only because he was distracted though. 

“I’m good! You’re late.” May told him, almost a little accusing and Liam felt himself laugh, his chest suddenly feeling a lot lighter. 

“She was watching the clock for at least an hour, weren’t you?” Niall threw in and now Liam started to feel the guilt bubbling up again, letting his arm slip from around Niall in order to lift May up when she stretched out her arms towards him. Niall stayed closed, his hand slowly rubbing up and down Liam’s back, somehow calming him a bit. 

“Yeah, but I was just really excited.” May defended herself, her arms wrapped tightly around Liam’s neck and he already knew he wouldn’t be allowed to put her back down again anytime soon. Even though she had definitely gotten heavier since the first time Liam had picked her up. “I lost another tooth, look.”

“Oh, wow, yeah, you did.” She had been losing a few during the past few months, and each time she was so excited about it, as if it was the best thing ever, and Niall was forced to keep them all in a jar for her as well. “Did you pull it out at school again like the last one?”

“Nope, it got stuck in my breakfast yesterday morning.” The little girl explained, playing with the collar of Liam’s shirt now. 

“She almost swallowed it.” Niall didn’t sound so excited about it and Liam smirked at him as he rolled his eyes, leaning forward a bit so he could kiss Liam’s cheek, leaving his skin feeling all hot and tingly. This right here was everything Liam needed and he really needed to find a solution for May’s birthday because being here now, holding her and having Niall close by… he didn’t even know how he wouldn’t break all of their hearts telling her. “You look tired.”

“I am, a bit. I tried not to sleep on the plane.” But now that he didn’t have to force himself to stay awake anymore, Liam could feel the lost night taking its toll. Especially when Niall started running his fingers through his hair, brushing down the side of his neck. “But I’m okay, I’m just glad I’m finally here.”

“Me too.” The younger man told him, sounding very honest and when their eyes met, Liam couldn’t see anything in Niall’s face that would have pointed to him still being upset. He was probably more disappointed in Liam though, so that was actually even worse. “Go and sit down, I gotta check on the food. And I think May wanted to show you her tooth anyways.”

“Yes!” May squealed, so Liam put her down, barely managing to peck Niall on the lips again before the little girl was dragging him off by his hand. At least this way Liam wouldn’t pass out on the couch within literally two seconds.

Honestly, Liam wasn’t sure if he wanted to see her tooth on an empty stomach because it didn’t look that appetizing, but she was half shoving it into his face a few moments later anyways while Niall had gone off to the kitchen. It was usually like this when Liam came back, he and Niall would have their actual reunion a little later, when May was asleep and they were alone, but with a little girl being all excited and hanging all over Liam, it would’ve been hard for them to really appreciate being with each other again. Besides, all that mattered was that they were all together and they both knew how much they had missed each other, they were telling each other every day on the phone after all.

But because of what Liam had to do, it was overshadowing his happiness a little after the first euphoria had passed.

“You gotta make sure to put it under your pillow.” Liam told May, relieved when she finally put the tooth back in the jar. 

“I already did last night and I got one pound. All my friends say the tooth fairy takes their teeth but mine always leaves them because she knows I think they’re cool.” She really WAS passionate about these teeth, wasn’t she? 

“That’s really nice of her, very considerate. What’re you doing with that one pound?” As May sat down on the couch next to Liam, he resisted the urge to lean back because he knew that once his back hit the couch, he’d fall asleep. 

“I’m going to save it until all my teeth have fallen out because then I can buy something better.” She sounded very grown up saying that and Liam was really surprised actually, but he didn’t get to ask what she was saving for because she suddenly started whispering, throwing a look over her shoulder towards the kitchen before looking back at Liam. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Yeah, sure.” Liam agreed without thinking, only for a moment scared that it was something to be worried about when he leaned over a bit so May could whisper in his ear.

“I don’t think there’s a tooth fairy and daddy puts the money there when I sleep.” Right, now Liam had to hold back a laugh. Did Niall know that she knew?

“You think so? Maybe the tooth fairy asked him to help her out, you know, like… like Santa has helpers as well? She can’t possibly do it all on her own.” Liam tried, but that backfired a little as well.

“I don’t think Santa is real either.” May answered after a moment of hesitation. “Or the Easter bunny. But don’t tell daddy, he doesn’t know.”

“That you think they’re all not real?” Liam was biting the inside of his cheek now, not being able to hold it though when he saw May’s confused face and then heard her answer.

“No, I think he thinks they’re real. So I won’t tell him what I heard at school. Except the tooth fairy, he knows she doesn’t exist, right?” The way she said it, all serious and stuff, only amused Liam even more. “Why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry, May, I just thought about something else. But I won’t tell your dad, don’t worry, I wouldn’t wanna ruin any holidays for him.” He promised, trying his very hardest to get himself together and May looked very relieved. She was so cute, it shouldn’t have been possible. “Maybe you should tell him your suspicions about the tooth fairy though.”

“Maybe.” The little girl shrugged before suddenly moving to sit on Liam’s lap instead and he wasn’t at all surprised because she was doing it all the time. “Do you have pictures on your phone from where you were?”

“I do, do you wanna see them?” Liam readjusted her a bit so he could get to his phone, having taken extra much pictures this time because she had started to ask this question a lot.

So Liam showed her pictures of the cities he had been to, and some he had taken during the concerts, quickly skipping a few selfies that he had also posted online because… well, they weren’t quite that appropriate for her to see really although Liam knew that Niall had let her see pictures like that before they had met, but like, Liam didn’t really wanna discuss them with a little girl, so… yeah. 

Niall came to join after a bit, letting himself fall into the space next to Liam and eventually ending up with his head resting on his shoulder, drawing patterns on the older’s arm that still gave him goosebumps. May had a lot of questions about every single picture, making Liam zoom in and out and back in, so interested in it all that Liam somehow got a new outlook on it as well. It only came to him that he should have appreciated everything a little more looking at it through May’s eyes.

She still had questions while they were eating dinner, until Niall told her that Liam was probably really tired, which was very true, but he still tried his best to hold back his yawns and be as present in the moment as possible. Niall’s cooking skills and May’s questions were definitely helping, but not as much as every single one of the younger man’s touches and kisses did, even if they were literally the most random ones. 

Liam had been looking forward to his time alone with Niall, but once it was time for May to get ready for bed and Niall gave in when she asked if he could read her bedtime story in his own bed under the condition that she’d sleep in hers afterwards, the older man simply couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer.

There was just something about being absolutely exhausted and falling asleep to Niall’s voice reading some story while absently playing with Liam’s hair with his free hand. So yeah, Liam did kinda forget about what he still had to do while he was here, at least for the night.

 

\------------------------

 

To say Niall was worried was a vast understatement.

He had been trying his very hardest to not let Liam notice how much he was concerned with how the older man was planning on breaking the bad news to May, and when, but he refrained from bringing it up. Liam didn’t have to know about his worries that he had had over the past few days, the slight panic that had now eased once more that Liam was here. That was the thing, Niall could be upset and he could doubt his entire life, but when Liam showed up, all of that seemed ridiculous, because of course Niall loved him and wanted to be with him.

Even though right now, he wasn’t sure if it was the best choice for all of them.

Liam wasn’t staying for very long before he’d have to leave again, only two nights and Niall was a little worried when he left Liam and May alone the next day when he had to go to work because May was on summer break and Liam had offered. So yeah, they did have an hour to themselves in the morning but Niall didn’t wanna waste it by bringing it up, instead he spent it kissing Liam and telling him how much he loved him, which had as a result that he was slightly terrified coming back home.

Surely Liam hadn’t broken the news to here while they had been alone, right? Then again, he would have to do it eventually sometime tonight, so that was also something Niall really wasn’t looking forward to unlocking the front door, not really knowing what to expect.

Surely, this wasn’t getting any easier the more fun May had had with Liam today, and upon entering his flat, Niall was conflicted whether to be happy about hearing her laughter or concerned. The ideal scenario would be Liam telling him he had somehow found a solution, but Niall just knew that that wasn’t the case. 

“I’m home!” He yelled out, not a familiar thing for him to say because usually he had to go and pick his daughter up from somewhere, and it also made him a little bit sad. Who knew if he’d ever get to say this again, and have May come running to give him a hug, and Liam a little slower after her to kiss him. Was this what they could have had every day, if literally everything was different? “Hi, bug, did you have fun?”

“Yeah, we had so much fun! I gotta show you what we built!” May was absolutely beaming and Niall shared a quick look with Liam after kissing him briefly, the smile on his face easing his fears a little. Even though there literally was no reason to feel calmer because this whole bliss and happiness was only temporary after all. 

So May dragged him into her room to show her what she and Liam had built out of Legos and then she kept on talking about everything else they had done, the knot in Niall’s throat tightening a little with every minute passing. Liam was taking no notice of that hopefully, he seemed to be in the best mood ever, not at all tired like last night, adding onto whatever May was saying. 

Maybe he HAD found a solution after all?

“I’ll go and get dinner started and you’re gonna clean your room a bit in the meantime, alright? And don’t forget to wash your hands.” Niall eventually had to end all the fun, but it was necessary, even with May pulling her puppy face.

“But can Liam help me clean my room?” She begged, her expression becoming sadder when Niall shook his head, ruffling her hair a bit.

“You can do it on your own. And I need Liam to help me in the kitchen.” The man lied, relieved though when his daughter did what she had been told and he took Liam with him by his hand, his heart suddenly beating a little faster. This was literally the first time they’d be alone since this morning, and it’d probably only last for a few minutes and yet Niall would have to ruin it all.

“How was work? You don’t have to make anything for dinner, I already ordered something when you texted me you were on your way, should be here in like 40 minutes.” Liam told him, but only once they had reached the kitchen, a very cheeky grin forming on his face as he pulled Niall in closer. Okay, did Niall really wanna do this right now? Maybe it could wait. “I just waited to tell you so I’d get you to myself for a second.”

“Seems we had the same plan.” Niall laughed, half closing the door as he felt Liam’s hands settling on his hips, his forehead gently bumping against the younger man’s as Niall wrapped his arms around Liam’s neck, breathing him in. “Thanks for ordering something… and for watching May all day, I hope everything was okay.”

“Everything was great, as you just heard. We had a lot of fun.” He chuckled softly before connecting their lips, fingers finding their way underneath Niall’s shirt, just a bit, and normally Niall would have maybe stopped him from doing this in the middle of the kitchen, but not tonight. “Are you okay? You must be tired.”

“I’m good, it wasn’t too bad… “ Especially now that Niall was here with Liam, his work day was already starting to fade from his memory a little bit. If there hadn’t been that one thing. “… Li?”

“Hm?” The older man made, much more busy with kissing Niall again, almost deepening the kiss but Niall knew he couldn’t let this happen right now because they’d never talk if they started making out now. 

“I… “ Niall started, having to stop once more to kiss Liam yet again, threading his fingers through the older’s hair, a little bit out of nervousness. Fuck, he wasn’t a baby and this needed to be done. “You have to tell May… about her birthday.”

Now Niall had truly ruined the mood within two seconds because Liam let out a quiet sigh, leaning back a little so they could look at each other and Niall couldn’t help but feel bad for the older man when he saw the look on his face. “I know… I just… I don’t know how.”

“Just tell her the truth, the longer we wait the worse it’s going to get.” It’d already be hell for her, she wouldn’t understand and Niall also wasn’t going to try and make up lies so Liam would feel better because there was no point. And after all… he wasn’t completely innocent in all this. “She’s going to forgive you.”

“I’m not so sure about that…” Liam mumbled, looking away from Niall but leaving his hands on his hips, fingers still brushing the younger’s skin. “Maybe I can still make it w-“

“Li, please don’t try to talk yourself out of having to tell her.” Niall interrupted, because he knew what Liam was trying to do, maybe unconsciously, but… it wasn’t Niall’s responsibility to tell May, and he also didn’t think it’d help anyone if it came from anyone but Liam himself. 

“I’m not, I- sorry.” He apologized after a second, still refusing to look at Niall though so the younger man moved his hand from the back of Liam’s neck to cup his face instead, brushing his thumb over his cheekbone as he studied his face. God, Niall was so in love with him and he hated all this so much, but he also wouldn’t have been able to end this. 

“We’ll handle it. She’s gonna cry and be upset, but eventually she’s going to get over it, okay? Trust me, I’ve had to break the worst news to her over the years, when she was much younger, and she doesn’t hate me. She could never be mad at you for too long.” Except, that wasn’t actually what Liam was afraid of and Niall knew it before he said it.

“She can be mad for as long as she wants, it’s killing me that I have to disappoint her like that. And today she kept talking about her birthday and… I don’t know if I can do it.” He suddenly admitted, finally looking at Niall again, sheer panic on his face.

“Liam.” Niall told him, forcing his voice to sound a little firmer because he knew that if he kept on showing sympathy, Liam would eventually find a way to make Niall do it for him. And Niall was already really fucking close. “She’s a little girl, not everything in life is fair and it’s not the first time someone disappoints her, and for certain not the last. You have other responsibilities and we’re all going to have to live with it, whether we like it or not. So you have to tell her, okay?”

“Okay… “ The older man gave in, not sounding very comfortable with it though and Niall didn’t either so he made sure to kiss him, to make them both feel a little better.

“I love you.” Niall told him, just so he knew, so he wouldn’t worry about whether Niall was mad at him for this. He had been, and disappointed also, but they were adults and he knew Liam would have never done this on purpose. The fact alone that it was hurting him so much was proof enough that he would have done anything to change it.

“I love you too… “ Liam told him when their lips were still almost brushing and Niall decided that it was best to get it done with right at this second, so he didn’t warn Liam when he called out for his daughter. 

“May? Can you come to the kitchen for a minute?” Niall threw an apologetic glance at his boyfriend as he saw the panic rising in his face again, kissing his cheek before hugging him close for just a moment.

“I haven’t cleaned everything up yet.” May had come running immediately, seemingly excited that Niall had wanted her to come in here as well, which only made things even worse. 

“You can do it later.” The man told her before looking at Liam, refraining from giving him a gentle shove.

“Umm… I wanted to talk to you, May. I just gotta tell you something.” Liam started, clearing his throat a little too often, obviously not knowing what to do when May just looked at him in confusion and he hesitated. “I- Okay, come here.”

When Liam sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, May walked over to him immediately, letting herself be pulled on his lap while Niall watched the scene unfold from the counter, suddenly feeling a little sick to his stomach. Maybe they shouldn’t have done it like this, but how else?

“So… “ Liam started, throwing a nervous glance at Niall who tried to keep a neutral expression even though it was harder than he had thought. “You know… you know how much I enjoy playing with you and being here and spending time with you and your dad, right?”

“Yeah?” May asked, having no clue what he was saying of course, which only made it even worse. 

“And you know I love both of you, right? And that I’d never, ever, want either of you hurt?” He continued, now making it a little more dramatic and Niall could see his daughter’s face changing.

“Yeah… I love you too.” She told him, but it was obvious she was a little confused as she suddenly looked over at Niall, for only a moment. 

“Thank you… “ Liam told her quietly, visibly swallowing and Niall felt bad for both of them at this point, but there was nothing he could have done to make it easier. Honestly, he would be relieved if May didn’t do anything besides starting to cry and THAT would already be heart breaking enough. “So… I wanted to talk to you about something… “

“Okay.” She was starting to get impatient, Niall could tell but he didn’t interfere, tried to be as quiet as possible actually and not move because he wanted Liam to do this, he HAD to do this. “About what?” 

“It’s… it’s not really something good.” The older man tried, which immediately caused May’s face to fall a bit as she shared another look with Niall before looking back at Liam still holding her on his lap. “It might make you a little sad.”

“Oh… why?” Now she seemed concerned, which was very understandable and Niall really wanted to say something right now because Liam was truly dragging this out a bit, but he knew it was just because he had no idea how to do this. And because he also didn’t want to, obviously. 

“You know how… how I’m away all the time now because I have concerts in America and interviews and things like that?” Liam didn’t wait this time for her to say something, he just took a real deep breath and then he shortly looked at Niall as well before looking back at the little girl now staring at him with fear written across her face. “I’m really sorry, May, I really- I really thought I’d be able to come on your birthday, but I found out that I can’t come home on that day. I know I promised, and I am so sorry, I-“

“What?! Why?!” May interrupted Liam immediately after it had sunk in, her eyes having become huge and her body having frozen and Niall already felt his heart aching. At least it was out now. 

“I have to go somewhere for work and-“

“But you promised me you’d be there.” She told him, and then of course, two seconds later she had broken out into tears and Niall almost with her. “A-And- I-I told e-every-one y-you’d come a-and… u-uncle H-Harry a-and Z-Zayn a-and… a-and L-Louis will b-be t-there a-and… y-you p-promised!”

“I know I promised, love, I’m so sorry, really. I really thought I could come, I tried to switch the dates and everything and-“ Liam interrupted himself, throwing a helpless look at Niall and the younger man was just glad he didn’t end up telling May he’d see if maybe he could do something about it, make her false promises. “I will come home as soon as I can and then-“

“B-But it’s m-my b-birthday…” The little girl sobbed, not reacting when Liam half put his arm around her. “A-and y-you p-promised…”

“I know, I’m so-“

May didn’t let Liam finish, she slipped off of his lap and for a moment Niall thought she’d go straight to her room, throw the door shut, but instead, she came over to him. Her face red and completely drenched in tears when she stretched out her arms and Niall picked her up, letting her sob into his shirt as she wrapped her arms and legs around him in a death lock. 

There was silence in the kitchen except for May’s crying and Niall first of all didn’t want to look at Liam as he rocked his daughter in his arms, but he did it eventually, immediately regretting it though. Liam was clearly overwhelmed with the entire situation, and very clueless on how to proceed and honestly, he looked very close to tears also as he slowly got up, but Niall quickly shook his head at him as he made intentions to come over.

Maybe Niall not getting involved wouldn’t actually work out that well.

“Your birthday is still going to be so much fun, sweetheart, okay? And you’re gonna have your party with all your friends as well the next day, and then we’re also seeing granny and grandpa. And Liam is going to come home as soon as he can and then we’re gonna do whatever you want, yeah? It’s gonna be like a fourth party.” Niall tried to calm her though it didn’t help just one bit, he wasn’t even sure whether May was listening to him or not. “He wouldn’t have promised you something if he didn’t think he could keep it, love, he really tried his best and he really would rather come home on your birthday. But sometimes when you’re a grown up things don’t always go how you want them to go.” 

“B-But… but e-everyone e-else h-has t-time to c-come.” A good point, however, Niall wasn’t going to try and start to explain the fact that Liam’s life and job were so much more complicated and different from everyone else’s. Besides, he did understand where May was coming from as a little girl, and he didn’t think it mattered why exactly Liam couldn’t come. All that she saw was him breaking his promise. “D-Daddy, he p-promised… “

“I know, bug… “ Was all Niall could say to that, holding her more tightly as he kissed the side of her head, closing his eyes momentarily as he struggled to find more words. Truth was, there was nothing he could have said to really make it better, it was probably best to just let her cry it out and then see what the reaction was going to be afterwards. Niall was starting to become a little too desperate for that though. “I’m sure Liam is going to bring you back any present that you want and-“

“I d-don’t w-want a p-present…” May immediately destroyed that last attempt at saving Liam and Niall opened his eyes again to look at the older man once more. Yeah, he was disappointed in him, but he could also see it in his face that this was anything but easy on him, that it took everything in him to stay away right now, and be quiet. “I-I… I d-don’t w-want any- a-anyone to c-come o-on my b-birthday… “

“Why not, love? We’re still gonna have a lot of fun, we’re gonna bake a cake and we’ll watch whatever movie you want or maybe we can also-“

“C-Can it j-just be m-me a-and y-you?” Right, that was surely another hit in the face for Liam, that she wanted to uninvited everybody else because of him, but also that she was making it very obvious just how hurt she was, and how disappointed in him. And that Niall was her only source of comfort, so much that she hadn’t even wanted to stay on Liam’s lap for another minute. 

“If that’s what you want, darling. It’s your birthday, we will do whatever you want, okay?” Niall promised, because what else would he have said? Surely the other three wouldn’t mind being uninvited if he explained it all though it was very possible she’d change her mind again until then… and hopefully would feel better. 

“O-Okay… “ She sobbed and Niall decided to try one last time.

“Do you think that maybe you could look at Liam and-“

“N-No.” Well, that sounded very definite. “I w-want h-him to l-leave… “

This was not at all what Niall had expected, or what he had thought would happen even in his worst fears and he immediately looked at Liam, who seemed equally as surprised, and hurt. “May, he’s not doing it on purpose, you know that. I know you’re disappointed and that you wish he’d be there, but he-“

“H-He b-broke his p-promise, d-daddy.” Right, and there was no way around that, because nothing would make this undone, and Niall also couldn’t say anything to make it somehow less dramatic in her eyes. It was because Liam had grown this important in her life that her reaction was this heavy, Niall knew that normally she would have handled a situation like this differently, less extreme, but he should have known what would happen if it involved Liam. This was maybe almost just as terrible in her eyes as Niall telling her he’d have to spend half her birthday working and that he’d barely spend any time with her. 

For a moment, Niall didn’t know what to do or say, it was only when he saw Liam blinking a few tears back and actually taking a step towards the door that the younger man quickly intervened again. May was his daughter, and of course she was his first priority always, but Liam was his boyfriend and they had to somehow make this work and find a solution without anybody going anywhere.

“I know you’re upset and sad, May, and you can be, we all understand. I’m also sad that Liam won’t be there, and so is he. But he really, really thought that he could come, and he tried his best to change things around, it just wasn’t working out. And you don’t have to forgive him right now or even look at him if you don’t want to, but it is still not nice to say you want him to leave.” Niall was holding her with one arm now as he stepped closer to Liam, reaching out to squeeze his hand so he wouldn’t think about actually leaving. “Is there anything at all that would make you feel a little better that he could do? Or something I could do?”

“N-No… “ The little girl was still hiding her face in Niall’s shoulder and Niall was forced to let go of Liam again because he would have dropped her otherwise. She wasn’t THAT little anymore. “M-Maybe… “

“Maybe?” Niall asked, a little hopeful, but that immediately got crushed again. 

“M-Maybe h-he c-could… s-still m-make i-it w-work… “ Right, no, they couldn’t feed into this hope, even though Liam looked well up for it, Niall made sure to immediately shake his head at him. 

“I don’t think that’s possible, love. He already tried, okay? But he’s going to come home as soon as he can afterwards and then the three of us can do whatever you want, no matter what it is, yeah? It doesn’t make your birthday any less fun, it’s just making it even more fun because we have an extra day to eat cake and open presents and do whatever sounds good to you.” Niall tried to make it more positive, like, he really, really tried his hardest here because he didn’t know what else to do. His worst fear was May actually wanting Liam to leave, actually wanting nothing to do with him anymore, because… how exactly would Niall have behaved in that scenario?

Of course May was a little girl and just because she had gotten disappointed didn’t mean she could make Niall choose between her and Liam and have it be final or anything, but… she was Niall’s daughter, and could he really justify keeping Liam around when she didn’t want him to be there? When he had broken his first promise to her? She had a right to be upset.

“B-But… we c-can’t g-go a-anywhere… o-or p-people w-will s-see L-Liam… “ Though she didn’t know exactly why, she had figured out this much. 

“We-“

“That doesn’t matter, May, we can do whatever you want.” Liam interrupted and Niall genuinely wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, for him to make yet ANOTHER promise he possibly couldn’t keep, but it was too late now anyways and he just sounded really desperate at this point. “I know you’re really upset with me and I know there is nothing I can do to make it better right now, but I’m really so sorry, May. And whatever you want to do once I’m back home, anything at all, we will do it, okay?”

Niall tried to throw a few warning glances at Liam, but the older man was ignoring them anyways while May continued to sniffle somewhere into Niall’s shirt before she suddenly leaned back a bit. Her face looked absolutely terrible, red and wet with tears and probably snot and Niall had no hand free or he would have gotten a tissue for her. All he could do now was to brush her hair out of her face. 

“I never wanted to make you sad, love, I wish I could change it somehow, I really, really do.” Liam kept going, now sounding even more desperate, maybe because he had stayed quiet for so long before when Niall had tried to get her to calm down. 

The little girl didn’t answer immediately, she just sniffed a few more times before eventually turning a little to look at Liam, who was standing a lot closer now than before because Niall had kept him from leaving before. The younger man kinda held his breath a little, not really knowing what to expect, what she was going to do, but he definitely felt the relief spreading through his entire body when May suddenly leaned over, stretching her arms out towards Liam.

Niall could see his own relief mirrored in Liam’s face when he immediately reached out to take May out of Niall’s arms and into his own. Honestly, considering her intense reaction and what she had said about wanting him to leave… Niall was a little surprised by how quickly she had changed her mind. Then again, she truly loved Liam, so it’s not that she had ever genuinely wanted him to leave, she was just deeply hurt by what he had done and that only made things even worse than they had already been to begin with.

“I’m so sorry.” Liam kept up his mantra as he hugged her and the little girl clung to him like she had to Niall before, undoubtedly still crying but quietly now and Niall felt his heart warming a little at the sight. Even though… that didn’t really change anything, did it? Liam still wouldn’t come on her birthday and he had just made even more promises that he possibly couldn’t keep. 

“I’m sorry I said I want you to leave… “ May’s voice was almost only a whisper, but it made Niall and Liam share a look as they heard it and Niall felt a smile playing around his lips as he reached out to stroke his daughter’s back before touching Liam’s cheek for a moment. Of course he hated this whole situation still, but these two were pretty much his entire life and he wanted neither of them sad or hurt. So at least Liam seemed to feel a little better now.

“You don’t have to say sorry, May, I would have wanted me to leave as well if I were you. I know it’s the worst thing to break a promise, and I really tried my hardest to fix it, but I couldn’t. And I would have never promised you if I had known I wouldn’t be able to come, but you can still be mad at me and you don’t have to forgive me.” Liam was rocking her in his arms now and Niall resorted to just watching, deciding to only interrupt if the older man was about to get himself in even more trouble. By making even more promises for example. 

“I’m not mad… just a little sad… “ Her voice was so thin and quiet and it broke Niall’s heart all over again to hear his daughter trying to adjust to this, trying not to be upset with Liam and to understand. “But… but when you come home then we can do something fun. Just you and me and daddy?”

“Of course, love, anything you want. And I also know that maybe this won’t help, but… if there’s anything you want me to bring you back then just tell me, okay? Any present you want.” Now he was starting to bribe her, but honestly, Niall didn’t mind it anymore. He already knew Liam was going to come back with way too many presents anyways, so… one more wouldn’t be the end.

“I don’t know… “ May started, and then she seemed to genuinely think about it and Niall would have laughed had he not heard the doorbell right at this moment. Right the food.

“I’ll get it.” Niall told Liam before walking out of the kitchen upon hearing May saying something along the lines of _”… I’ve seen something on TV”_ , undoubtedly about to make Liam buy something from some television advert. He’d happily do it, if he hadn’t already.

Unsurprisingly, Liam had already paid for the food online anyways, so all Niall had to do was open the door and then walk back to the kitchen with two bags because the older man always went overboard. With everything. He just meant well though, and he did it because he had the biggest heart Niall had ever seen in a person, so how could he have ever been upset with him? Even May seemed to have the same troubles.

Upon returning, Niall was more than happy to see that things had normalized a bit. Liam was helping May to blow her nose and wipe her face, the redness disappearing a little and she also wanted to sit on his lap again, so that definitely meant that he was forgiven. 

They didn’t really talk about it anymore. Niall shared a few looks with Liam to ensure that he was alright and that it was all good for now, and the smile he got back in return was enough for him. The older man seemed absolutely thrilled that May was suddenly super clingy with him, maybe because of the prospect of him leaving and nobody knowing when he would be back. 

So they had dinner and May eventually came around and started her usual chit chat, and just because, Niall allowed her to eat while still on Liam’s lap even though he would have normally told her to move to her own chair. He was pretty sure though that Liam would have minded more at this point than the other way around. 

Because there were no dishes to do and just leftovers to put away, Niall _allowed_ Liam to go and help May finish cleaning her room to redeem himself because she had never finished it before and he had honestly never felt happier than watching them from the doorframe a few minutes later, just seeing them interact and laugh together and… god damn it, Niall would have never managed to get over Liam had he decided to end this, at any point.

Sure, he had his doubts, especially in situations like these, but… Liam fit in perfectly with them, when it was just the three of them and if Niall ignored everything else going on around them with their busy and complicated lives. Who else would have been so good with May, from the first second on? And tried his very best to always be there for her and Niall, always put Niall’s needs above his own and… Niall had hit the jackpot with Liam, and he needed to finally get it together and not expect the very worst whenever something went mildly wrong. 

“I still feel like shit.” Liam told Niall when they were lying in bed together an hour or so later, after Liam had read May to sleep while Niall had used the chance to take a shower and do a bit of cleaning. “Maybe I can talk to my management again, I don’t really need that award anyw-“

“Wait, it’s about an award? Why didn’t you tell me that?” Seriously, now Niall had to lift his head from Liam’s chest just to stare at him because… this changed things, a lot. “I thought it was something unimportant, like, just you having to attend something for publicity or so.”

“No, it’s like… if I don’t go then someone else gets it. But it’s not that big of a deal, I-“

“Liam, you already told her now, it’s done, okay? I know you feel bad and guilty and whatever, but… it’s going to pass. Her birthday will still be fun, she’s gonna change her mind about inviting the others and then a few days later or so you can make up for all of it. Unless she decides she wants to go to a super public place and-“

“Then we’ll go there, I don’t care. I’ll do whatever she wants.” The older man sounded very serious, laughing a bit over the face Niall pulled. “I just want to make her happy after breaking the very first promise I ever made to her.”

“I know, but there is still a line. What if she says she wants to, I don’t know, go to the zoo? It’ll be madness if anybody recognizes you.” Plus, they’d see Niall and May and then they’d have a Vienna situation again, so… not the best idea. “I’ll talk her out of it if it’s something really crazy. And you can just pretend you were going to go along with it so that I’m the asshole instead.”

“Thank you.” Liam told him with sincerity, grinning when Niall rolled his eyes at him before pressing a kiss to his lips. He’d miss Liam so fucking much when he left tomorrow, not even knowing when he’d see him again, like… how’d he even survive that?! “How many presents are you okay with me giving her?”

“One? Two at max.” Niall answered immediately, already knowing that Liam wouldn’t stick to that anyways. “Seriously, Li, as long as you spend time with her then she’s happy. She doesn’t need that many presents, she already gets four birthday parties now, that’s not exactly normal either. I don’t want her to be this spoiled and you don’t need to buy her love, she already loves you.”

“I know, but it’s just because I made her cry like this and it’d make me feel better. And maybe her as well, she told me about some toys she saw on the TV.” And he was going to buy all of them, wasn’t he?

“Just don’t, Li. It’d be enough if you just had a bit of time on her birthday to Facetime her or something, trust me, that’d be worth a lot more. Also… “ Niall continued while brushing his fingers over Liam’s cheek, rubbing his thumb over the older’s plush bottom lip. “I know someone else who’d be really happy if you had some time to Facetime.”

“Really, who? I usually don’t talk to Louis on Facetime, but I could make an exc-“

“Shut up.” The younger man interrupted him, cutting off Liam’s laugh by kissing him some more in an attempt to distract himself from his tiredness and the fear of tomorrow. “… Li?”

“Hm?” The older man made as they pulled apart for just a second, eyes still closed and their noses brushing.

“I really love you…” Niall mumbled against his lips, quickly continuing when he knew Liam was about to say it back. “Sometimes I get doubts… not about us, just in general. And because of May and because of my jobs and then because of yours and because of the future and… but I really want this. Us. I don’t believe in things like Harry, that there is fate or something, but… I believe that we can really make this work, long term. I’ve never felt this way about anybody before and I never thought that anybody would come and just fit right in with me and May, but she loves you so much and I do, too, and… sometimes it seems too good to be true, like that I couldn’t ever deserve someone like you. And then something like today happens and it reminds me that things aren’t always perfect and there are going to be struggles, but it doesn’t matter because you’re definitely worth working through it all… and I think we can. I hope so, at least, because I want to.”

There was some silence after Niall had stopped rambling on, leaning back a little and blinking his eyes open just to meet Liam’s, seeing them having gotten a little wet, which surprised him because he hadn’t meant for this to become emotional. Actually, he hadn’t meant to say any of this in general, it had just kinda come out.

“I love you too… more than you know.” Liam told him after a moment, smiling a bit at Niall as he reached out to run his fingers through his hair, giving the younger man goosebumps all over. “I was a little afraid too, when I thought about us getting serious, because our lives are so different and everything. And I know that you have so much more to lose than me, and that the choice was a lot easier for me, but I hope you know I’m always on your side and I’d never push you to anything, we’ll do it exactly how you want because the truth is… I have no experience being with someone outside the business, and with a child much less. But being with you, both of you, is the best thing ever, it’s so different than everything I’ve experience before but it’s exactly what I always wanted, without even knowing it. And I’m just trying my best because I know how difficult all of this is for you and I know I really messed up with May’s birthday, but I genuinely didn’t mean to. And I promise it’s never going to happen again.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t promise anything for a while.” Was all Niall said, ruining the mood a little but actually only making it a little lighter because Liam joined his laughter after pretending to be upset and the younger man ended their slightly emotional speeches with another kiss.

Deep down though, the butterflies in his stomach were going crazy and he hadn’t even known anymore that he could feel this way about somebody. All giddy and excited and so in love as if he was a teen again and experiencing his first real crush or something. 

 

\------------------------

 

“And you really thought this was a good idea, yeah? You walked into a store, saw this, and thought, hey, let’s buy that for Niall’s 7- year-old daughter, she’s surely gonna enjoy that and I don’t care one bit if he has to clean up for 14 hours each time after she uses it and-“

“It’s just bath bombs, can you get it together?” Louis sounded upset about Niall’s critique, but honestly, what had he been thinking?! 

“Yeah, bath bombs AND bath pens or whatever this is, I just… “ Niall had to take a deep breath to ground himself and remind himself that today wasn’t a good day to be worked up and fight with Louis. Truth was though, he hadn’t been feeling that great ever since he had woken up and remembered that he’d have to bake a cake, cook for a child and 4 adults and then clean until like 1 in the morning. More than that though, it had been another morning of waking up without Liam, and Niall didn’t even know how many more there would be. It had been almost two weeks since the last time. “Look, I’m sorry for freaking out. I just don’t understand.”

“I just thought it looked cool.” The older man told him, kinda helplessly and suddenly Niall felt really bad. “I also thought about bringing my dog so she could play with him, but then I thought about how much hair he loses and that he’d probably destroy your furniture.”

“Thank you for not bringing him. Very considerate.” Niall was a little confused as to how this story fit in, but he assumed Louis had just been trying to make up for what he had done. Whatever, Niall would live. “It’s okay, um, maybe it’ll be easy to wash off.”

“Maybe she’s forgotten about it again tomorrow, she got a ton of other presents.” True, she really had. “And better ones on top of that.”

Both Niall and Louis looked at the amount of stuff on the floor that May had unpacked just minutes ago though she wasn’t playing with any of it, except for one. Zayn had seriously gotten her a playstation game because he knew they only had one, so now he and May and, very surprisingly, Harry, were completely caught up with that. 

“Birthdays do bring everyone together, huh? ... or wait, no, that was weddings.” Louis interrupted Niall’s thoughts after he must have noticed him staring over to the couch. “But maybe they’re gonna get along now.”

“They’re just keeping it together for May. And they don’t even really have to talk, so… whatever. I’ll go and prepare the cake now before I forget.” Wouldn’t have been too surprising really, Niall didn’t even know anymore where his head was. Fuck, and to think he’d have a full on party tomorrow with kids where he’d have to do all this again but 10 times worse… 

The older man wordlessly followed Niall into the kitchen, as if he didn’t quite know if he wanted to play playstation instead or not. They only had 3 controllers though because Zayn had brought his own just so they’d have one more, so maybe Louis just didn’t wanna sit there and watch. Or maybe he really wanted to talk to Niall instead. Probably not though. 

“Have you already heard from Liam today?” Of course Louis just had to bring that up as Niall was getting the cake out of the fridge to put the candles on and light them. They should have done this before opening presents, but he had forgotten, so whatever. 

“We texted, yeah, but that was like… 10 hours or so ago.” Maybe even more, but there was time difference anyways and Liam was really busy and so was Niall, so he hadn’t even taken that much notice of it today. But only today. “He still doesn’t know when he’s going to come back.”

“Hm.” Was all Louis made and Niall refrained from glaring at him, pushing him away when he reached out to undoubtedly put his finger in the icing. “Do you know he wrote a song about you?”

“I- what?” What?!

“Someone who he writes with is a mutual friend and I saw him the other day. He was all up in my face wanting to know who Liam is dating because it was so difficult to write about anything else. He was so annoyed.” Now Louis was laughing, as if that was the funniest thing ever and Niall felt his stomach drop a little. Oh god, was this true? “Anyways, don’t talk to Liam about it, he’s gonna be mad I told you.”

“Why _did_ you tell me?” Seriously?

To this, Louis just shrugged before suddenly switching the topic again before Niall could have asked whether he’d have to be worried about the song ending up on the album. Then again… fuck, why did his heart start to beat faster just thinking about it? Maybe that was why Louis had told him, because he had sensed that Niall was missing Liam terribly. Still, it’d be stuck on Niall’s mind for days now.

May blew out her candles a few minutes later, almost revealing her wish to everyone but Harry stopped her last second. Luckily, because Niall had a feeling it had something to do with Liam and he kinda didn’t wanna talk about him anymore tonight. Well, until he’d call, which he hopefully would because… it WAS May’s birthday, even if he was on another continent. 

Niall tried to clean up as they went along so he’d have less to do later while the other three were playing with May, which was kinda helpful but also not really. At one point, Louis excused himself to leave the flat and go smoke or whatever and Niall truly didn’t think anything of it, hadn’t even thought about it in greater detail until Zayn spoke up.

“How can you date someone who smokes but then glare at me whenever I do?” He straight out asked Harry and Niall felt his body freeze a little. They weren’t seriously going to start a fight now, were they?

“He doesn’t smoke.” Was all Harry said and now Niall was confused also. Right, he had never seen Louis smoke, so why had he said that?

“But he literally just left to-“

And then Zayn never got to finish that sentence because the front door Niall had left unlocked opened and their heads all turned simultaneously. Minus May, because she was busy undressing a Barbie.

“Surprise!” Louis said it somewhat excitedly, but also a little unenthusiastically and Niall’s heart literally dropped into his pants when he saw Liam. 

This… this couldn’t be real.

“LIAM!” May’s screech was honestly painful, but Niall didn’t take too much notice of it because he was kinda frozen staring at the older man from the couch. He even had balloons with him and a gift bag that looked like it contained more than the 2 presents they had agreed on. Not that any of that mattered.

“Happy birthday, love!” Liam let go of the bag just to pick her up, a giant smile on his face. “Wow, you look so pretty! Are you having a good party so far?”

“Yes! But how are you here?! I thought you couldn’t come.” She sounded more than excited though, jumping up and down after Liam had gently put her down once more, making himself a little smaller. 

“I somehow made it work, just for you. I don’t have a lot of time, but I just couldn’t miss your birthday.” He explained and Niall had no idea how any of that had truly worked out, but he also didn’t care.

Liam was still talking to May as Niall finally unfroze himself kind of and made his way over, suddenly feeling way too emotional, as if he’d burst into tears any second. He had missed Liam so damn much, had dreaded the next few days and now… now he was just here, having simply walked through the door with Louis, who had undoubtedly known about it for a while. And Harry probably as well.

“Hi.” Liam was grinning at Niall while May was busy noisily going through the bag after he had given it to her and Niall didn’t say anything, he just walked up to Liam and kissed him on the mouth, causing the older man to stumble back in surprise before his hands settled on Niall’s hips and he kissed him back.

There were some comments in the background, mostly coming from Louis, something about keeping it child friendly and how this was supposed to be a surprise for May and not Niall, but Niall ignored all of that to focus on nothing and no one else but Liam. 

“How… how did you do this?” Niall asked after they had pulled apart, still cupping Liam’s face as he tried to really let it sink in that he was physically here, studying his face as if he’d disappear the moment Niall blinked or turned his head.

“Complained a lot and I only have 3 hours before I have to leave to go to the airport again. I just really wanted to be there for May’s birthday. And to see you.” His voice got softer at the last few words and he leaned in to kiss Niall some more. “I’ll be back in 2 days though, okay? Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I only found out right before I boarded the plane hours ago.”

“I- don’t worry, I’m just so happy you’re here and… oh god. We all thought Louis turned into a smoker or something and… I can’t believe you’re here.” That was all Niall could say because it was true, he really couldn’t believe his happiness even while holding onto Liam and still tasting him on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Liam laughed because Niall had just blurted out with it in front of everybody probably, but whatever, they were adults, Niall couldn’t have cared less at this point. 

Of course May demanded to have Liam’s attention on her again a few minutes later, but that didn’t mean that Niall couldn’t be glued to Liam’s side for the next 3 hours and never let go of him until absolutely necessary. He could tell that the others were quite amused by his behavior, but he was really good at ignoring that. As long as he had Liam here, and be it only for a few hours, that was really all Niall had needed to suddenly believe that this was surely the best party he had ever thrown for his daughter.

Even if the night didn’t end quite on such a high note, apart from Liam having to leave again of course.

Niall foolishly decided to check his phone one last time before going to bed, not expecting anything because Liam was currently on a plane, his eyes already falling half closed as he sleepily pressed on the link Louis had sent him with a really weird caption. 

Niall wasn’t so sleepy anymore after reading the headline of an article the link had led to though.

 

**All about Liam’s secret romance: Is he ready to settle down and become a father?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Actually, a whole lot of stuff was supposed to happen but then my laptop had a few troubles and anyways, i almost didn't manage to finish it all on time so i was under a bit of pressure, but i still hope you guys liked it :) and my laptop works fine again now so were good :p 
> 
> happy easter to you all who celebrate it! but regardless i hope youre all going to have a lovely weekend and a great next week as well! let me know what you think in the comments if you want <3


	17. Chapter 17

**All about Liam’s secret romance: Is he ready to settle down and become a father?**

_[…] It is not the first time the 25-year-old superstar, currently touring the world (yes, still with his old album), has been pictured with one of his secret lovers. However, it is the first time he has been caught shopping in toy stores and buying balloons at the airport – only to fly back to New York several hours later to continue on with his tour. His fans all have the same question that we have: whose birthday was this important?_

_There have been on-going rumors about Liam’s possible new lover for the past two months, after he has been pictured looking rather comfortable with a friend after his concert in Vienna, Austria. Now new pictures have emerged and his fans were quick to do research on the now not-so faceless anymore “friend” and what appears to be his young daughter. Check out these adorable pictures down below!_

_[…]_

_Liam certainly made an effort to make it to the birthday party – but is he ready to take on the responsibility of being a step-father? Let us know your opinions in the comments!_

 

Niall didn’t know how many times he read the article before finally internalizing it and even then it still felt like a really bad dream. The pictures were awful and though May’s face was blurred because she was a child, Niall’s was right fucking there. Not that that mattered, because surely there were going to emerge even more pictures now, and there’d be versions that weren’t blurred circulating on Twitter and… oh god, this was awful.

He had no idea who had taken these pictures back in Vienna, but judging by the quality and everything, it had probably been a fan or just someone who had recognized Liam, because they didn’t look professional. Also, they would have noticed anybody taking professional pictures, although Niall had thought he would have noticed either way. Wrong.

They weren’t touching or anything, they might have as well been just friends although Niall had to admit they were definitely walking rather close. Plus, the fact that Liam was carrying May so casually as if he did it all the time… kinda gave away the fact that he DID do it all the time. And now there were also pictures of him buying her presents back in New York, and walking through the airport with these balloons and… it was obvious what this was. Way too obvious.

And Niall didn’t even wanna know what kinda research Liam’s fans had done because everyone would find out about him and May now anyways. Everyone, including May’s friends and their parents and everyone Niall knew and strangers and… and Liam was on a plane, completely clueless. 

So Niall was forced to call Louis instead for emotional support and advice because what the hell? He couldn’t just send that and then leave Niall hanging and- wait, did he know more than he was letting on in that text message? Like, he was one of those people who wrote articles like that and… what if someone who he worked with had written that?

“Please don’t lose it.” Was the first thing Louis said, having answered his phone after one second. “Just try and keep calm a-“

“How?! Have you seen these pictures? I don’t even wanna know how many more there are already on Twitter. Oh god. Fuck. Do you know who wrote that article? How’d you find it?” Well, maybe a stupid question because Louis was obviously in the business but whatever.

“I think I know the guy, yeah, but he works for another magazine and it’s not like it matters. It’s already out there, a friend of mine sent it to me. I know Liam’s not getting off that plane for a few hours but I thought you should know as soon as possible. Look, there are versions of it where May’s face is clearly visible as well, I hope Twitter is going to take them down but-“

“But everyone’s already seen it anyways! Fuck. _Everyone_ is going to know who we are tomorrow morning, or maybe they already do, who knows?! What am I supposed to do, Louis? I- please, just tell me, I don’t know how to deal with this and Liam is on a plane and I’ve got May’s friends coming over tomorrow for her birthday and-“

“Okay, okay, take a breath, yeah? I know it feels like the end of the world right now, but it’s really not.” How could he even judge that?! “All of Liam’s relationships eventually got outed, it was never by choice. That’s usually how it goes.”

“How is that supposed to calm me down?!” Seriously? Maybe someone should have told Niall that BEFORE all this had happened. “He’s never dated someone who wasn’t a celebrity as well, you can’t know what’s going to happen, these other people or whatever were used to being in the public eye and they didn’t have a 7-year-old child and-“

“I know, I get it, okay? I get that you’re upset and scared, I would be too. But it happened, there is nothing you can do to make people unsee the pictures, okay? You need to accept it. You’re not touching in the pictures, nothing, for now it’s still just some article reading a bit too much into a friendship.” Except… it wasn’t.

“Why does that even matter? People always read too much into stuff, but it’s the truth and they will find out who I am regardless and talk about it and speculate. And who knows how many more pictures there are, I can’t remember if I touched Liam that day or not, or if maybe someone saw us on the plane or wherever else. Anything is possible at this point. Shit…. Louis, please help me.” Niall didn’t know what else to do other than to beg even though he knew no one could have helped him now. He needed Liam here but he wasn’t and he wouldn’t be for another two days and… this was the worst way it could have possibly happened. The worst timing in the entire world, literally.

“I’m trying, really, that’s why I sent you the link.” Amazing. “Did you and Liam not discuss this? I mean, you knew it could happen, that eventually people would find out, right? You’ve known who he is all along.”

“Of course we talked about it and _of course_ I know, I just… I never… I never thought it would actually come out. I know it was naïve to push it away and ignore it, but I did and now it’s too late and- fuck, I’m ruining May’s life. What if Liam and I break up one day and-“

“Okay, first of all, don’t say that. Second of all, no one even knows you’re dating yet. Third, not to be mean or anything, but Liam isn’t the world’s most famous singer, and let’s say you do break up in a few years, there’s no guarantee anyone would even still care. Also four, it’s not impossible to keep a low profile in a relationship like this, a ton of celebrities have kids and never even show their faces. There have been pictures of me and Liam as well and 90% of his fans wouldn’t recognize me either.” Was he seriously comparing their situations now?!

“I think people would care a bit more about who he’s d-“

“This isn’t a competition, I’m trying to help you out here. You will live, okay? And you’re not ruining May’s life in any way. Now she can finally tell her friends she knows Liam Payne.” Good thing Louis wasn’t here right now because Niall might have committed a murder. Then at least this journalist would have another great headline. “Maybe it’s for the better.”

“Literally, HOW would this be for the better?!” Had he not read the article?!

“It was bound to happen anyways and you would have never allowed Liam to make it public himself, would you? It’s better it happened this way, with some neutral pictures, it could’ve been way worse. Like, his nudes leaking or something.” What?!

“What nudes?” Niall was honestly about to fucking LOSE it.

“I don’t know, I thought maybe he sent you some or whatever. It was a joke, okay? My point is, it could be SO much worse, Liam’s had the most awful articles written about him and his ex’s, this one is a gift in comparison.” Except, Liam’s past relationships didn’t concern Niall in any way so how was that going to help him?

“It’s a gift to _him_ , but not to me.” This was what Liam was always talking about, how the choice had been so easy for him and so hard for Niall, that he was aware how much Niall had to lose when he didn’t have anything to lose in return. How was Niall going to survive the entire night until Liam’s plane had finally landed?! “I feel like I’m going crazy, I don’t know what to do.”

“Nothing, you can’t do anything. Accept it. You knew what you were getting yourself into, right? You decided it was worth it because you love him, I know it’s not easy but would you honestly consider ending this now just because something happened that you already knew all along would eventually happen anyways?” Louis was right, Niall knew it, but he was way too worked up to just accept that. 

“I’m not ending anything, I love him, and I knew what could potentially happen, but that doesn’t mean I was prepared for this, when I can’t even talk to Liam about it and… maybe I thought it’d never happen. Maybe I was actually stupid enough to believe we’d just continue living our lives like we have and nothing would change.” Not just MAYBE, that was exactly what Niall had thought deep down. That was the only reason he had been so calm about it before. Because he had simply chosen not to think about it and now he had to pay the price. “Do you really not think it’ll ruin May’s life?”

“How would it ruin her life? It’s not really her people will care about the most. Besides, it’s illegal to post pictures of her face without your consent, so there’s also that side, you could literally go and sue every single person on Twitter who shared the uncensored pictures.” True, although unrealistic and not at all helpful.

“Surely that’s gonna make Liam’s fans love me, thanks for that tip.” Niall told Louis sarcastically, not being able to hold back. This literally felt like the end to him, of everything, his entire life, as if he’d wake up tomorrow and everything would be changed. Realistically, Niall knew that wasn’t going to happen, it’d more be a gradual change rather than an abrupt one, but… it’d be a change nevertheless. 

“You don’t need them to love you, just to respect you. And I’m sure Liam’s gonna know what to say in case they start to dig too deep into your private life. But… I mean, there’s nothing to dig out about you, is there? Except that you have a child and dropped out of uni.” True, thank god Niall had been a boring teenager. Well, except for that time he had gotten his one night stand pregnant, but that was besides the point. “They’re gonna love you though, simply for the fact that you’re giving them Liam Payne with a child, they’re already swooning over it, I’ve read a few tweets. It’ll be fine, trust me.”

“You can’t know what will happen, it might all turn into a complete disaster.” Most likely because this was just too crazy not to. “Guess the only good part is that maybe your studio is going to be fully booked now.”

“Because of you? I highly doubt that.” Louis laughed and Niall wanted to cry thinking about the long term consequences of it all. “Just try and relax, it’s completely out of your control anyways.”

“You always find the right words for everything.” Niall told Louis sarcastically, actually about to hang up the phone and call someone else for support. But who would he have called? Harry would have told him the same exact things and Zayn… probably as well. His mother was most likely asleep and if she wasn’t, she’d freak out even more than Niall, so. There was no one to turn to for support really until Liam’s plane finally landed. 

“Look, it’s already out there, it happened. It was going to happen eventually, we all knew that, and there’s nothing any of us can do, except maybe Liam, although it’d probably be better if he just kept quiet as well. He has a tendency to add fuel to the fire by trying to fix it.” Great. So the only one who could potentially make it better would only make it worse? “Just don’t write him five hundred text messages now that he’s all gonna receive at once in a few hours, there’s absolutely no reason to do that. He’s just gonna be worried you’ll break up with him.”

“I mean, there really would be no point in breaking up with him now even if I wanted to. Which I don’t, but it also wouldn’t even change anything anymore. What if May’s friends are going to already be asking about it tomorrow?” Then again… the chances of that were pretty damn low. 

“Pretty sure they won’t, unless their parents are glued to their smartphones in the middle of the night looking up pictures of Liam.” Well, who knew? Honestly at this point, nothing would have shocked Niall anymore. “And you can talk to Liam about it before that anyways. Just try and sleep until his plane lands and then you can discuss it all and it’s going to be just fine. Trust me.”

“Do you think this is some life lesson I gotta learn?” The younger man couldn’t help it because how the hell would Louis even know if it would be fine or not? He had definitely hung around Harry way too much.

“Maybe, I don’t know. You gotta ask Harry that.” Right. “Get off your phone now and try to sleep, if anything really bad happens I’ll text you, okay?”

“Are you just gonna monitor this all night or what?” Seriously, how was Louis going to tell Niall it was no big deal but then he himself was going absolutely crazy over it? 

“No, but I work with lots of people who are involved with this kinda stuff and they know I’d wanna know about stuff written about Liam so they’d tell me and then I can tell you. That’s also how I heard about the article in the first place.” Louis explained it as if it was some science project and Niall still wanted to cry but he also realized there was no need, and no point. He’d just have to accept it, and wait for Liam to get off the plane. “Promise me you won’t stay up all night freaking yourself out?”

“Why do you care if I do?” Seriously, did he really care this much about Niall, or… ?

“Why wouldn’t I care? I’m just looking out for you because I know Liam would tell you the same thing but he’s not available to talk so I’m telling you instead.” Oh. “Go to sleep.”

“Maybe I’ll go and prepare for the party tomorrow instead.” That was a compromise, right?

“Well, whatever you do, just stay off your phone. Or at least off Twitter. Okay?” The thing was, Niall couldn’t be upset with Louis or anything because he hadn’t done anything, it seemed he truly was trying his best and somehow looking out for Niall and… it was calming to know that he’d tell Niall if anything major happened.

“Okay. I’ll try my best… thank you for telling me. And for answering the phone.” Considering how late it was, it seemed to be worth a thank you as well.

“Any time.” And then Louis quickly ended the call after that and Niall was alone with his thoughts once more.

He did consider digging deeper into this for a moment, but then decided not to and instead just sent a simple text message to Liam followed by the link before going to quietly check on May and then decorate the flat for her party tomorrow instead of going to sleep.

 

_To Liam 00:33  
Louis sent me this article. Im not freaking out though, I promise. Just please call me as soon as you can so we can talk about how to handle it, ok? I love you, I hope you got some sleep on the plane xxx_

 

\---------------

 

Apparently Niall wasn’t freaking out, but Liam was pretty darn close the moment he turned off airplane mode on his phone and received a couple messages from various people, his boyfriend of course included. Well… this wasn’t great, also not the end of the world or anything, but also not very convenient at all.

Especially because it had happened HOURS ago and a few more pictures and articles seemed to have surfaced since then, but with no new information or anything, so that was good. Or maybe it wasn’t, because it didn’t really matter anymore at this point. The secret was out, what more was there to be afraid of now?

“I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me you’re dating this man, that’s all. I’m just a little shocked.” Liam’s mother wouldn’t have been the first person he would have chosen to call, but it was 6 in the morning back at home and he hadn’t wanted to risk waking Niall and his mother had called HIM, so… 

“I was going to tell you.” Liam lied, although not completely because he WOULD have, just… he hadn’t yet made any real plans to tell her just how serious things were between them, that was all. She did know Niall though, from months ago where she had met him and May at the zoo, but Liam doubted she still remembered it that well. “You knew I was going on dates with him.”

“There’s a difference between going on a few dates and being in a serious relationship with someone who has a child. And someone who isn’t even in the public eye, I mean… have you really thought this through?” She sounded worried and Liam was annoyed because one, he was an adult, and two, it was actually in the middle of the night where he was and he was in a taxi back to his hotel hoping he’d get tired because his sleep schedule was already fucked.

“Yes?” Liam rolled his eyes to himself, checking his text messages while talking to his mother but Niall hadn’t replied yet so hopefully that meant he had eventually gone to sleep. “Why does it bother you that he’s not in the public eye?”

“It doesn’t bother me at all, I think it’s great.” What? “For you. I’m just worried what this will do to someone who is living a normal life, with a young child most of all. Have you thought about how this is going to affect her in the long run?”

“So you’re actually worried about Niall and May more than about the fact that I am dating him and didn’t tell you?” At least they were on the same page here.

“Both, actually. But that doesn’t answer the question. What are you going to do about these pictures? The girl’s face is in all of them. I have to admit the pictures are very cute and I’ve always known you’re great with children and was hoping you’d have your own at some point of course, but this situation still isn’t ideal obviously. For Niall, mostly. So, what is your plan?” Was she seriously demanding to know it now?!

“There is no plan, I have to talk to my manager and my team and to Niall and… then we’ll figure it all out. I’ll try to get the pictures removed or blurred at least and… there’s nothing else we can do. It’s not even official that we’re dating, people just jumped to conclusions again. The right ones this times, but conclusions nevertheless.” Although… Liam might have just admitted it at this point because him staying quiet would be enough confirmation anyways.

“What does Niall think about it all?” His mother pressed on, seemingly a whole ton more concerned about the younger man and May. Which made sense, but it still came as a surprise to Liam somehow.

“I haven’t talked to him yet, he’s still asleep and May is gonna have her birthday party with her friends today so I don’t wanna wake him… but he texted me and he said he’s not freaking out, so… “ So hopefully that was true. 

“Okay, so when am I meeting him?” Of course this was the next thing she was worried about now that it was established that they weren’t going to break up over it. It still made Liam sigh a little though. “On your birthday?” 

“I don’t know, I’ll still be in the States on my birthday and I’ll fly you and dad out but Niall has to work, so… “ They hadn’t really talked about it in too much detail because… well, it was complicated. And Niall probably wouldn’t get this many days off and also May would start school again in September, so… it was just, complications over complications. “I’ll introduce him to you though, I promise.”

“Have you met his parents?” Another thing Liam really didn’t wanna talk about right now.

“I mean… kind of. Yeah. But not since we made it official.” Although Niall’s mother knew that they were dating, but there was no reason for Liam to bring that up now. “You’ll get to meet him, okay? And May, if… if Niall is okay with that. But we really have to figure everything out first and I’m still touring and it’s not really the best timing.”

“It’s never a good time, Liam. You should’ve known this would happen eventually, it always happens. Only this time people will be so much more invested because he’s a complete stranger and there’s a child involved.” How calming.

“Thanks for that.” Liam sighed, grabbing his bag as he got out of the car when it finally reached the hotel, actually about to end the call, but he wasn’t quick enough.

“Do you love him?” Okay, wow, that was a bit straight forward, but Liam knew his mother after all.

“I do, yeah.” Liam confirmed because there was no need for him to lie, even if he could feel his face turning a little hotter as he walked into the hotel, his body guard that had waited for him at the airport following close behind. 

“And it doesn’t bother you that he has a child? Where is the mother?” If they were going to discuss EVERYTHING now then Liam would have to sit down for that. 

“She’s, um… she passed away when May was a few months old.” This wasn’t Liam’s story to tell, but he knew why his mother had asked. She had wanted to know if there would be problems concerning that and Liam had to admit that if May’s mother had been in the picture, he was pretty sure things would have been a hundred times more complicated than they already were right now. 

“So… you are really kind of stepping in as a parent for her? Have you really thought this through? I’m not saying I don’t think you can make these decisions for yourself, but she’s how old? Six? Seven? I mean, it will be challenging if you really stay with Niall. And in case you split, it is going to affect her probably even more than you and-“

“Mom, I know, okay? Me and Niall have talked about all these things.” Well, not about all of them, and also not in detail, but they were kinda really obvious. That was also why Liam was letting Niall make every decision. “She’s Niall’s daughter, not mine, he knows what’s best for her.”

“I know, I know, I’m just… this is all a bit out of nowhere. I mean if you do stay with him then they will both become family and then she’s kinda going to be like a granddaughter and-“

“I think you’re thinking a bit too much in the future, mom.” Although Liam had to admit that he was a little happy his mother had such strong views on it, that she’d just see May as if she was, well, his child. Then again, Liam knew his mother, he shouldn’t have ever worried about these kinda things with her. “I’ll make sure you’ll get to meet them, okay? With dad. I just have to talk to Niall about it all and we’ll have to figure it out.” 

“Okay, I’ll be patient, I promise. I just woke up to these news before and it was all a little overwhelming. And I did kind of already meet them both, but that was months ago, I can barely even remember it. What exactly does Niall do for a living?” Liam had now entered his hotel room, so even though he was tired, he decided to give his mother a full rundown of the past few months and every detail about Niall she wanted to know.

By the end of that phone call, Liam had somehow managed to change his clothes and even brush his teeth, so that was something at least. He would have had to stay up anyways to wait for Niall to wake up as well, so it had been a nice distraction. And at least his mother was happy about getting to speak to him for so long and being filled in with everything that had happened after… after Liam hadn’t exactly been the best son, to put it the nice way. 

“Are you really not freaking out?” There was no denying, hearing Niall’s sleepy voice immediately put Liam at ease, though he didn’t know if it worked the other way around as well.

“’m not, I promise- fuck. Sorry. I touched the icing and destroyed everything.” There was a sigh and Liam felt himself smiling, at the same time getting the biggest rush of homesickness ever though. Or maybe not, because he would have been fine anywhere in this world had Niall been there. “What are we going to do? I don’t know what to tell people if they ask. And I know you’re gonna say no one will ask, but what if they do?”

“Then you just say whatever you want, I told you, it’s up to you. It’s just a rumor for now anyways, I can try to distract people if you want, or just stay quiet and deny any comment. I could also confirm it of course.” Liam added the last option as a joke, although it wasn’t really. He would have, had Niall wanted that.

“Uh, would that be smart?” The younger man sounded a little distracted, but that was around 1 billion times better than him losing it on Liam, so to be honest, this was the nicest outcome possible. “I’m missing a candle.”

“What?” Liam’s thought processing was going a bit too slow due to the fact that he was already lying in bed, and it was pretty late also, but he was trying. “Oh. Then just use one and put it in the middle of the cake.”

“She’s not turning one, I can’t do that. She loves blowing out candles.” Then there was some background noises and Liam was confused for a second when Niall didn’t answer, probably having put the phone down for a moment. “Okay, got one.”

“Did you… did you get one of the old ones out of the bin from yesterd-“

“No one will ever know, they’re all children.” Niall defended himself as Liam laughed, his head hurting a bit from it though because of the lack of sleep and all the travelling through timezones. “So, do you think you should publicly confirm we are dating?”

“I don’t know.” Liam admitted because it was true, he had never been in this situation before either. “I’ve not talked to my management or publicist yet… or Louis.”

“I’ve talked to Louis, but he wasn’t very helpful at all. He did calm me down though… why’d you wanna talk to him about it anyways?” And then, before Liam could answer “Oh my god, the cake looks so good, I’ve outdone myself yet again. I’ll send you a picture.”

“Please do.” Niall was so cute and now Liam was missing him even more, but he was trying to keep it together. He’d be home in two days, it’d be fine. “And Louis might be able to help a bit predicting what would happen if we did confirm it, he knows a lot of people in the business and he’s friends with a few who’d potentially write real shitty articles, so… he could influence that a bit, maybe.”

“Maybe.” Niall echoed and Liam had no answer because he honestly didn’t know what to do either. “So… I’ll just tell people what I want if they ask and you’ll talk to your team and then we’ll decide on something? Maybe we won’t even have to, who knows what other pictures will come out in the meantime.”

“I doubt there’ll be more. I know I said that before but this time I really mean it. We never touched outside of the car, there can’t be any picture that would confirm that we’re together.” Or had they? Suddenly Liam didn’t know anymore. “We can just wait it out and I’ll pretend I never saw it and then… we’ll see what happens. I just know it’d be stupid of me to deny it.”

“I wouldn’t want you to anyways.” He sounded pretty certain about that so that was a relief to Liam because he had kinda been a little afraid the younger man would not only freak out but also wanna break up or something. Liam really needed to stop worrying about these kinda things too much, he trusted Niall after all. “I’m surprised by myself by how well I’m handling this, but I guess Louis was right, it was bound to happen anyways. And I mean… we would have eventually made it public, right? It’s just a bit soon.”

“I’m sorry.” Liam really was sorry, he had wanted it all to go like Niall wanted it, so he’d be comfortable and wouldn’t have to worry, but sadly that hadn’t worked.

“Why? It’s not your fault, Li, and it’s alright. We can’t change it anymore now and it could’ve been a lot worse.” True, but also, it couldn’t have been THAT much worse to be honest. “I mean, now everyone is going to find out about my criminal record, but-“

“Wait, what?” Suddenly Liam felt a little more awake, but only for a moment until the younger man started laughing. Thank god. “You genuinely had me worried, it’s not funny.”

“It is. Would you have broken up with me if I did have a criminal past?” While asking Niall still sounded as if he was joking, but Liam took the question serious. 

“No. But we would have had to, like… maybe take a few extra measures.” Not really sure what, but… luckily Liam wouldn’t have to worry about that. “Um, my mother wants to meet you, she called me earlier demanding answers about everything.”

“How did you go from my fictional crimes to introducing me to your mother?” Good question.

“I’m relieved that I can introduce you to her without having to worry about a criminal record. She also, uh… she also wants to meet May. But I totally understand if you wouldn’t want that, or if you also didn’t wanna meet her, just t-“

“Li, of course I wanna meet your mother, okay? Mine wants to see you again as well, she’s been asking about it for a while now. And I already kinda met yours as well, and May did too. At the zoo, remember? When that thing with the drunk text happened and-“

“Can we not talk about that?” Somehow it still made Liam blush like crazy, just because back then he had almost freaking died the next morning. And then when he had thought he had screwed everything up with Niall… not a good memory. “Maybe we should just introduce our mothers as well, and everyone, and get it over with.”

“That doesn’t sound so motivated.” The younger man laughed again, his energy clearly rising the longer he was awake while Liam’s was just dropping. “But we can do that, yeah, just tell me when it works for you, or how. Real quick because I think May just woke up – do you wanna go to sleep before she notices I’m on the phone to you or would you mind talking to her for a second if she asks?”

“It’s okay, I’ll talk to her if she wants to.” Honestly, Liam missed both of them, spending time at Niall’s place, playing with May and everything, it was like… home. “Niall?”

“Yeah?” Niall sounded concentrated once again and Liam could almost see him decorating that cake if he allowed his eyes to drop closed. 

“I miss you.” Liam told him because it was true, he really, really missed him, especially right at this second, before he’d have to sleep by himself in this massive bed. 

“I miss you too.” His voice had gotten softer and Liam had to actually swallow around a knot in his throat. “But you’ll be home soon, right? And you’re gonna be really busy until then anyways so time is gonna go by a lot faster as well.”

“Or even slower.” Because it usually worked that way rather than the other one, but Liam tried to do it off as a joke because he wasn’t a child. 

“Don’t say that or it’ll really feel like that. I- good morning, bug.” Niall interrupted himself, talking to May for a moment in the background while Liam tried to stay awake. “Is it okay if I give May the phone for a second? She wants to say hi.”

“Of course.” Liam agreed immediately, knowingly lowering the volume of his sound when the younger man handed his phone over.

“Hi, Liam!” For just having woken up, she surely already had a ton of energy.

“Good morning, love. How’d you sleep? Are you excited for your party?” Poor Niall, having to throw a kids’ party right after last night, but he seemed rather alright, so that was something. 

“I’m super excited! And I couldn’t sleep any longer because I really wish my friends were already here. But daddy is still decorating the cake and he already put up the balloons while I was sleeping.” He had probably gone to bed really late after reading that article and had started decorating instead, now Liam felt like shit again. That timing had really been exceptionally bad though. “Did he send you a picture?”

“Not yet, but I’m sure he will later when everything is done. Are you helping him?” Niall would have probably preferred had she not been wanting to help because he’d be a lot quicker, but… it was her party after all. And she was always so damn excited to help him with anything at all. 

“Yeah. But he said I can’t taste the frosting yet.” May complained and Niall said something in the background, forcing Liam to hold back his laughter. “How late is it where you are?”

“It’s really late, it’s after midnight already.” Liam didn’t even wanna know the exact time right now, and especially not when he thought about how early he’d have to get up. 

“I’ve never been up this long before. Or maybe I have. For New Year’s Eve.” May told him, probably doing something else while talking to him because she sounded distracted and more quiet, as if she had forgotten about holding a phone. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I stayed up so I could talk to your dad for a bit, and to you.” Well, the last part hadn’t really been part of the plan but Liam didn’t mind it in any way. “But I’m going to go to sleep really soon anyways. And you gotta make sure you’ll have the best party ever with your friends and tell me all about it, okay?”

“I will. And don’t worry, I’m pretty sure my friends won’t get me better presents than you.” The fact that she sounded so serious and everything, as if she thought this was a genuine concern of Liam was really making him laugh. He would have gotten May even more presents, but she had kinda given him very obvious hints about some toys and Liam had known that Niall already hadn’t wanted him to get more than two. So Liam had really been holding back already. 

“I’m glad.” Liam chuckled, right before suppressing a yawn and he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to stay awake for at this point. “Can you give the phone to your dad so I can say goodbye to him? I think I really need to go to sleep.”

“Okay, I will. Are you calling again later when you wake up again?” She really had the time zone thing figured out, didn’t she?

“I’ll try my best, alright? Have lots of fun with your friends.” She’d wanna tell him all about it in a few hours, so Liam would try to call even if he’d be fighting to stay awake. 

May said goodbye to him before handing the phone back to Niall and they only briefly talked a few more moments before ending the call, May yelling a ‘I love you too’ in the background when Niall said it to Liam and the older man’s heart felt a whole lot warmer as a result. He still felt lonely when he put down the phone, but at the same time, he was too tired to really notice anymore.

Tomorrow he’d have to somehow find a solution on what they were going to do about that article, but what mattered most to Liam was that Niall seemed to be okay with anything they’d decide to do. They’d get through this somehow and figure it all out. They had to.

 

\-------------------------

 

“So… I had an idea.” Liam started, and Niall already got a little suspicious, mostly because of the look on the older man’s face. 

“What idea?” Niall asked, putting his fork back down so he could properly look at the older man. There had to be a reason he had waited to speak up when May wasn’t there, or maybe Niall was just a little too paranoid. 

“You know how my mother really wants to meet you?” The older man started, licking his fork like a child and Niall had to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah? Have you figured out a date?” Should Niall have been more nervous about meeting Liam’s mother? But then again, why would he, right? It’d be just fine, he was an adult after all.

“Kinda.” The fact that Liam didn’t continue immediately but rather started picking at his food like May when she was hiding something from Niall made the younger man a bit more suspicious as he sat up a little more straight, trying his hardest not to interrupt Liam or push him. “Since it’s my birthday in like, three weeks, and… since I won’t be home for that… “

Niall already didn’t like where this was going, but he remained quiet for now, waiting as patiently as he could somehow manage. Liam did sound a little like a child not really wanting to just state the facts, but Niall wasn’t surprised, he did this a lot whenever he knew Niall’s reaction would be strong, so there was another reason to worry. 

“I was thinking, because I’m flying my parents out for that, because I’ve got a concert on that day as well and… I know May’s summer break ends on the 30th, but that’s a Friday, so… there are two extra days… “ So Liam wanted to fly them out, for his birthday. 

“Li… “ Niall started, and it honestly pained him a little because fuck, god knew he really, really wanted to do this. “I don’t know if- because of work. And the flight is really long, and it’s twice and I don’t know if I’ll get more vacation days, I’d need at least three or four.”

“Is the taxi company that strict?” The older man sounded disappointed, but he wasn’t giving up just yet. He knew Niall only needed vacation days for the taxi company because Louis didn’t care and Niall could work from his laptop and just not schedule any guitar lessons, however… 

“Umm… yeah. But also… “ Right, Niall hated saying this in front of Liam, but he kinda had to because it was actually the main reason. “It’s not really about that… I spent a lot on May’s birthday, so I do kinda need the money, also if something comes in at Louis’ studio or guitar lessons I’d miss out and-“

“Why didn’t you say anything? If you need anything paying for you can just ask me, you know that.” Liam sounded very serious, of course, because he had said the same exact thing a hundred times before.

“I’d never do that, you know that too. And I’d also never take any money from you for that.” Or in general. “I’m not broke or anything, I can pay the bills and food and gas, it’s all good. I just gotta save a bit after May’s birthday, that’s all. It’s what I usually do after Christmas and birthdays, it’s fine.”

Liam didn’t look very happy with that answer at all, he opened his mouth just to close it again and Niall felt bad but he also felt a little stupid. He knew there was no need to be embarrassed, hell, he was just living a normal life, but… still, their financial situations couldn’t have been more different. 

“But… if it weren’t for that you’d wanna come?” The older man asked after a moment and Niall just sighed. “I was worried you wouldn’t ever wanna do something like that again, after those pictures and the articles… “

“I’d visit you anywhere all the time if I could. I told you I’m not freaking out over those pictures, and we agreed we’d just ignore it, so… “ Liam’s team had also decided that that was probably for the best, for them to just let it fly by and for Liam to remain quiet. Seeing as the rumors were true… it’d be pointless for him to deny them, or add more fuel to the fire by distracting people. Plus, one day everything would come out anyways.

And so far nobody had asked Niall or May about it, so that was something. 

“But that doesn’t mean I’m saying yes. Actually, it means I can’t say yes because-“

“What if I compensate you for the hours you’d miss? Just that, nothing more.” Great. “I know your vacation days at the taxi company are paid, but if something comes in at Louis’ studio and if someone asks about guitar lessons you have to say no to then you can just tell me and I’ll pay you for them instead.”

“I can’t do that.” Niall really couldn’t… could he? That’d be mad. “If I say yes now then it’s not going to stay a one time thing, is it? Be honest.”

“I… but it’s my birthday.” Liam concluded, dodging the question completely and almost making Niall smile with how childish he had sounded. 

“I know, Li.” And Niall felt truly terrible about it as well.

“It could be your present to me.” The older man suggested, sounding a bit as if he was joking, but also really desperate. 

“You said I’m not allowed to get you a present.” Multiple times, though Niall would have done it anyways. Even if he had NO idea what. What to get for someone who could have bought anything in this world? 

“I take it back, I allow non-physical things.” He wasn’t begging Niall yet, but somehow Niall felt like that was going to be the next step. And he was already afraid. “Let’s talk about it, hypothetically, maybe that’d help you make up your mind.”

“I already made up my m-“

“Okay, so. You could fly out with me and my parents a day before, on the 28th. And then we’d be back home on the 31st, so May has enough time to recover from the trip and the flight before school starts again. So you’d be missing four days, maybe not even, that’s maybe one or two bookings at the studio that I’ll pay you for anyways, and I don’t know about guitar lessons, but… you can just tell me. And I know you’ll have less vacation days then and you already took one for when you visited me in Vienna but-“

“Li, it’s not about all that.” Niall had to interrupt because the longer he let Liam talk on for, the more did he want it. “It’s about the fact that May is 7 years old and she’s only ever been out of the country one single time, and the fact that I could never ever afford something like that, even if I saved up for like a hundred years. And I’ve got responsibilities, I can’t just take your money and play pretend.”

“… why not?” The older man seemed genuinely confused and Niall let out another sigh, rubbing his hands over his face. Good thing he had almost been finished eating, and also good thing Liam had decided to bring this up when May was visiting her other grandparents. Though she had REALLY not wanted to go. 

“Because… “ Niall made some movement with his hand, as if that explained it, he just didn’t know how to put it all into words. So he had to just straight up say it. “Because I have a daughter and I gotta somehow make ends meet myself, it’s my life, I made it work all those years.”

“It’s not about you not making it work, it’s you doing me a favor, it’s different.” Liam would always have a good answer, wouldn’t he? 

“I still don’t wanna take your money, I’d feel like… I don’t know. Like I’m using you or something.” There was no good explanation for how it’d make Niall feel. At least not one he wanted to give Liam right now. “It’s your money.” 

“Yeah, and you’re my boyfriend.” Was all Liam concluded from that, making Niall swallow another sigh. “Can I ask you something off topic?”

“Um, yeah?” Now Niall was so confused he actually looked up across the table, realizing he had destroyed his tissue out of frustration.

“Would you ever consider moving in together? Not right now, but if we’re still together in a few years? And would you ever marry me?” What?!

“How’d you think of that now?“ Seriously, had he wanted to distract Niall or something? But he looked a bit too serious for that.

“Because if you’re so against taking anything from me then I don’t know how any of these things would work.” Okay, now it was Niall’s turn not knowing what to answer right away because… what the hell?

“So your reaction to me telling you I have responsibilities is you getting upset because I don’t wanna take your money and now we aren’t going to work out anymore because I have to _work_ , for my own money?” That was the core message, wasn’t it? 

“That’s not-“

“Not what you said, but what you’re implying. Liam, not everyone is a millionaire, okay? Some people work normal jobs and just because I happen to be dating someone who has a lot of money doesn’t mean I’ll just quit and take your money and jet off to see the world, it’s not what normal people do. Can you please just accept that?” Niall was upset, but he also knew where Liam was coming from, what he had actually meant, so he was trying hard because he didn’t want them to fight over this.

“Who the hell cares what’s _normal_ or what people do or don’t do? I really appreciate that I never had or will have to worry that you’re after my money, but this is completely different. I know you wanna work for your own money, and you are, I’d literally just compensate you for work you would have done anyways. For maybe two or three days, that’s all. It’s like me paying you for doing me a favor.” Jesus Christ.

“It’s really that important to you that I meet your mother on that exact day?” This was how it had started with after all.

“No. I just… “ Now it was Liam’s turn to sigh, leaning back against his chair before looking straight at Niall. “I want you there. It’s not even about my birthday, I don’t care about it, I just… I’ve been wanting to fly you out so many times the past two months, and I’ve been missing you more each time I left and I’m terrified about going to Australia and Asia and being away from you again and… I just thought… because it’s the last chance where May is still on summer break… the thing with my mother is just a coincidence. And my birthday as well. But… if you say no then I’ll accept it. I’m sorry for trying to convince you. I really don’t wanna make you feel bad or anything, I just said all this stuff because I was desperate. I’m sorry, I know I upset you and I know where you’re coming from with the money thing. I’ll shut up now.”

Great, so now Niall really didn’t know anymore what to say. Especially because Liam had sounded as if he might start crying any second, which… would have been the worst thing ever because it would have broken Niall’s heart. Maybe he hadn’t quite expected for Liam to miss him so much while touring, like, he missed the older man of course but he had thought Liam was kinda busy anyways and… but apparently, it was pretty equal. 

They just sat there for a moment, neither saying a word, the rest of their food getting cold and Niall wanted to wait before literally just blurting out with it, but then he decided to give himself a push, get over himself. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Liam asked after a second, blinking, and Niall cleared his throat a little, playing with his fork. 

“Okay, we’ll come visit on your birthday. And we’ll do it like you said, but… Li, I can’t keep on doing this if I do this now, okay? You’re right about May’s break ending though, and it is your birthday and I do wanna see you and I’m terrified of the rest of your tour also and I miss you like crazy whenever you leave, so… we’ll come along.” It was four days, it wasn’t that much, Niall didn’t even really know anymore now why he had been freaking out like that. Or maybe he did, but he felt quite stupid about it.

“You don’t have to just because of what I said, I didn’t wanna make you feel like you h-“

“You didn’t. I want to, okay? It’s not about anything you said. It’s actually just about me and getting over my pride I think, so… but it’s still, like… a one time thing. Not saying I’d never visit you on tour again or anything, just… you know what I mean.” Also, Niall still wasn’t sure if he’d take money from Liam because maybe it’d work out just fine without, but he didn’t really get another chance to think about it too much.

Liam didn’t say anything at all, he just stared at Niall for a moment before suddenly breaking out in a smile and before the younger man could have reacted, Liam had already gotten up from his chair, walked around the table and unexpectedly kissed Niall straight on the lips, cupping his face. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Liam.” He really and truly did, and looking at him like this, Niall wasn’t sure why he had ever hesitated before. It was just four days, just this one time for Liam’s birthday and everything would work out just fine, they’d have a great time. For sure.

 

\--------------------

 

“There’s a tiny problem.” Liam had hoped he’d manage to figure it out before being forced to tell Niall, but by the looks of it, that wasn’t going to happen. “It’s really not that bad and I hope I can figure it out, but I think you should probably know before-“

“What is it?” The younger man interrupted before Liam could get caught up in rambling once again. Luckily May was busy building something on Liam’s living room floor and there was one of her shows on in the background. Liam could have waited for her to go to bed, but he thought it was better to do it now. “Is it about the flights?”

“Um, kinda, yeah.” How did he know already? “So… I had someone book everything, like usually, but there was some misunderstanding and… apparently they booked your plane ticket on a different flight and now the other one is full. But I’m sure my dad can just swap with you and we’ll let them change the names and-“

“Wait, wait. When is the other flight then? And what about May?” Niall lowered his voice at the last question, now putting his laptop on the coffee table. He had been answering Emails while Liam had sorted something out on his phone, May playing on the floor. It had all been really nice, quiet, but then Liam had gotten that text message. Luckily the flight was only in two days, so he’d have time to sort it out hopefully.

“The other one is at night, 14 hours later. And they only put you on that flight, not May. But as I said, I’ll just talk to my dad, he won’t mind.” Liam added quickly so Niall wouldn’t freak out, he still had had to tell him though, obviously. “I’d swap with you but I can’t really because of work.”

“I know, it’s okay, um… you know what? Maybe… maybe you don’t have to ask your dad.” The younger man answered slowly, seemingly lost in thoughts, his eyes briefly going over to May playing and then back to Liam. “If I just take the other flight I’ll miss out on one less day at work, maybe it’s not that bad of an idea.”

“Niall-“

“I know, I know, we already talked about that, I’m just saying. And I’m sure your dad wouldn’t wanna fly by himself at night if he doesn’t have to. I’d be fine though, I’ll just sleep on the plane and you have to work anyways.” That was true, however, it also wasn’t really how Liam had planned this and he hated making it more complicated than it had to be when Niall had already not been sure if he even wanted to come. “Do you think you could book May on my flight?”

“I can definitely ask… I could also take her though, if… if you’d be okay with that.” This wasn’t at all going how Liam had envisioned it, but Niall kinda didn’t seem so opposed to taking a later flight. They would have originally taken it anyways, but it would have been too late for Liam, work wise, because he had to be somewhere. “And if she’d be okay with it, of course.”

The younger man seemed hesitant for a second, suddenly moving closer to Liam on the couch. “I, uh… it’s not that I don’t trust you with her, not at all, I just… it’s a different continent. And a really long flight and… I’ll ask her, if she’d mind. But what about your interview or whatever?”

“It’s your decision, but I’d just take her with me anywhere I go, it wouldn’t be a problem.” Liam told him quickly, because it wasn’t, and obviously he wouldn’t be hurt if the younger man decided he didn’t want that. 

“Okay… wait. May? Can you come here for a second?” Niall called out for his daughter because she was all across the room, but she came running over immediately, climbing on the couch next to her dad, almost onto his lap. “What are you building?”

“A house.” May told him, shrugging a little but looking confused. “Can I go back and play?”

“I just wanted to ask you something. You know we’re going with Liam in a few days, to America?” The younger man started and seeing May’s face brighten up at the mentioning of that reminded Liam of when they had told her after Niall had decided. She had been so happy and excited, she had almost killed their ears. 

“Yes?” She asked, still confused, starting to play with a wristband around her arm. 

“There was a little bit of a problem and… would you mind if me and you only get on a plane in the evening instead? And Liam is going in the morning and we’ll just meet him there?” Before Niall had even finished, the girl’s face had fallen a bit, so maybe that was why he immediately continued. “Or you can also go with Liam, and then I’m coming a bit later.”

“But why can’t we all go together?” Now she was disappointed, but she was clearly keeping it together as Niall reached out to brush her hair back.

“There was a problem, so I have a ticket for a different flight. But you can go with me or with Liam, whatever you want, love.” He was putting her in a position of having to choose, Liam realized that and Niall probably did too. “If you go with me then I’d take you to work with me or you can also go with Liam, it’s completely your decision, May, whatever you want, none of us would mind what you choose, okay? You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

“Ummm… but if I go with Liam you’d have to go all by yourself, daddy. And it’s gonna be really boring.” She told him after a moment, which made Liam smile because of how considerate this actually was. 

“I’d be sleeping anyways because of how late the flight is, so you don’t have to worry about it. Do you wanna go with Liam?” Niall asked as if he already knew what her answer would be, and maybe Liam did too, even before she nodded a little, shy almost. “Love, it’s okay, you don’t have to feel bad at all. But you really gotta listen to everything he says, yeah? You have to listen to him as if he were me. But we’ll talk about that again before it’s time.”

“Okay. But I can also go with you, daddy.” She offered again, clearly having some troubles with that decision and Niall smiled, squeezing her for a moment. 

“I know, sweetheart. But I know it’s more exciting to go with Liam and I don’t mind at all, okay? I’ll just be there a little later. We can still talk about it again before we leave, now get back to playing.” He told her, kissing her forehead, but she didn’t immediately slip off the couch just yet.

“Okay… I love you daddy.” May quickly told him before running off again and Liam kinda felt bad for her, feeling guilt bubbling up even though all this had been out of his control.

“I love you too.” Niall answered before leaning back on the couch with a sigh, rolling his head around to look at Liam as he reached out to loosely take his hand into both of his. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Liam had messed up after all.

“For taking her. And for being so trustworthy that I’ve got no problem letting my seven year old fly to another continent with you.” Oh.

“You’re welcome, I don’t mind taking her at all and I’m glad you trust me this much… May is right though. It is a long flight all by yourself.” That was actually what Liam worried about most, if he was being honest with himself. “Maybe Louis wants to come. Or Harry, or both. Or Zayn. If you want. Or someone else, whoever, so you don’t have to be on your own.”

“Hmm… I’ll think about it. Thank you.” The younger man smiled before pushing himself up to kiss Liam on the lips and Liam was just relieved that they had found a solution so quickly. Even though now that it was sinking in, he was slightly nervous about being responsible for May in a whole other country, almost as if that article had been foreshadowing things, like… WAS he ready to take on a role like that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :) 
> 
> i again almost forgot its friday because im on uni break so every day is kinda the same rip. but ill start again on monday so next friday i surely wont almost forget again haha! i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, let me know if you want!! and dont worry, there are definitely going to be more consequences to those pictures and niall and liam kinda being outed! i wouldnt let them get off so easily haha.
> 
> hope you guys will have a good week <3 and i hope you had a nice easter if you celebrate!!


	18. Chapter 18

“Are you excited?“ When Niall asked his daughter, Liam was almost afraid to hear her reaction because she definitely looked anything BUT excited. It was really early in the morning though, like 4 or something, and they had all had the hardest time ever getting up.

“No.” May simply told him, rubbing at her eyes and looking like she might fall asleep. They were waiting at the airport for Liam’s parents so Niall could briefly meet them, but also so he could say goodbye to May for a few hours. Now that the day and time had come for this to happen, Liam was a little nervous, but he hadn’t said anything to Niall. No need to worry him unnecessarily much.

“No? Not even a little bit?” Niall kept going, ruffling her hair and May just shrugged, leaning into him.

“I wanna go back to bed.” She whined and the younger man sighed while Liam secretly thought about how he’d rather have her tired than upset about being without Niall. It’d probably only sink in a little later though. 

“You can sleep on the plane, okay? Then it’s gonna go by so much quicker as well and then you’ll have a lot of fun with Liam, right?” Niall was trying his very best, no denying, but Liam still wasn’t sure if it was working.

The past two days May had always reacted very excited whenever they had talked about this, Niall had probably asked her a hundred more times if she really wanted to go without him, if she’d be comfortable and everything and she had never hesitated. Now though, looking at her clinging to him like this, Liam wasn’t so sure anymore. But it was a little too late for all of it anyways. 

“But I wanted to watch a movie.” At least she had plans, if she did then that meant she wasn’t completely dreading it… right? “When is your plane going to leave?”

“Only in the evening, at night.” Niall told her, probably also for the hundredth time, and he shared a look with Liam that the older man didn’t quite understand. “You won’t even notice because you’re gonna spend the whole time with Liam, and go with him to his interview and everything, it’s gonna be so cool.”

“Yeah… “ May mumbled before being interrupted by a yawn right before pointing out to somewhere. “Look.”

“Wh- oh, your parents.” Apparently both Niall and May had recognized Liam’s parents from a far distance while he hadn’t.

Liam had sent someone to pick them up and he would have also had his driver drive him and the other two, but Niall had insisted on driving his own car because he’d have to get back home again after all. And go back to sleep before work, which, Liam had told him multiple times wasn’t a good idea, but Niall had insisted. Also on getting up so he could say goodbye and meet Liam’s parents for literally 5 minutes.

“You’re late.” Liam joked as they arrived, briefly hugging both of them and letting his mother kiss his cheek before he felt himself start to become a little nervous. This was definitely no 4 am kinda thing to do, but here they were. “Mom, dad, this is Niall. And that’s May.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.” Niall was handling himself well, shaking their hands and smiling, as if he wasn’t even nervous or anything. He probably wasn’t, he looked too tired for it. “May, are you gonna say hi? You already know Liam’s mom, right?”

“Yeah… hi.” As expected, Liam’s mother almost died when May shook their hands also, keeping her fingers clenched in Niall’s hoodie though. 

“Oh, I heard so much about you already, May. And I remember when we met at the zoo. Are you excited for the plane?” Liam’s mother asked, all enthusiastically, and Liam saw the brief look that Niall shared with his daughter, as if to tell her to just lie.

And she did, almost without hesitation, which almost made Liam laugh, but he hid it with a cough. “Yeah. I’m just a little tired.”

“We all are, darling. But we can sleep on the plane, right? We’ll be there in no time.” A lie, and May knew it, but luckily she just smiled and Liam was kinda impressed by her skills. “It’s so nice to meet you as well, Niall. Properly, I mean. I’m so sorry about the flights getting mixed up, my husband would have swapped with you, but Liam didn’t say anything.”

“He offered multiple times and I told him not to say anything, thank you though, I really appreciate it. And I won’t be going alone, a friend of mine is also coming, so I’ll be okay.” Apparently Zayn had almost shat his pants when Niall had asked him, and Liam had just been relieved that the younger man wouldn’t be on his own. 

They had a bit more small talk, mostly Niall and Liam’s mother, but his dad also asked a few things and then Liam’s bodyguard started clearing his throat and Liam knew it was time to say goodbye. Only for a few hours, but it still felt like it’d be a lot longer somehow when he hugged Niall, trying to keep it down because of his parents. 

“Text me if anything happens, please. Or if-“

“Ni, it’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of her, I promise, and I’ll call immediately if anything happens, but it won’t. I won’t leave her out of my sight, not even for a second.” Liam had lowered his voice a bit so May wouldn’t hear, slowly pulling away from the older man but keeping a hand on his hip.

“I’m not worried about that… but thank you.” Niall told him, looking slightly nervous for the first time as Liam leaned in to kiss him, but he didn’t reject him, actually lingered a bit longer than the older man had planned. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Very soon. I love you.” Liam just said it, even with everyone listening, and he had to admit he quite enjoyed seeing Niall’s cheek turning pink as he smiled a bit. 

“I love you too.” The younger man answered without hesitation, momentarily covering Liam’s hand on his hip with his own before making himself a bit smaller in front of May, so they could be on eye level. “You know what we talked about, right? You still remember all of it?”

“I do.” May answered, almost sounding a little bit annoyed, but she let Niall fix her clothes anyways. “I’m not a baby anymore, daddy.”

“I know you’re not, bug, I’m just making sure. Be good, okay? And listen to everything Liam says, and stay with him at all times, no matter what happens. And you can tell him anything you’d tell me if I were there, yeah?” He was making it a little dramatic, but Liam wasn’t judging him at all. May was a little girl, she had been away from Niall for longer periods of times but never to literally leave the continent. 

“Okay.” May agreed, hugging Niall back when he pulled her closer and Liam knew his mother was melting behind him even though he didn’t turn around to actually check. “I love you, daddy.”

“I love you too, darling, so much. Have lots of fun, yeah? And I’ll be there in no time as well.” It was obviously hard for Niall to let go of her, kissing the top of her head before looking at Liam again. “Do you have her passport? And the thing I wrote for the border c-“

“Babe, we already checked that ten times in the car, okay? I have everything, it’s all good, we’ll be fine. And you will, too. You know I could still get someone to help you at the airport later and bring you to the gate and everything.” No, Niall wasn’t dumb of course, but Liam was probably almost as worried about him as Niall was about May right now.

“Me and Zayn will figure it out somehow, but thank you. I think you really need to go now.” Niall was right, but Liam thought that a few more moments wouldn’t kill them, so he just kissed him again until he told himself to pull it together. It was LITERALLY only for a day.

Niall also said goodbye to Liam’s parents and then again to May, and to Liam because why not, and by the time they had parted ways, they were already running a bit behind schedule. Because it was so early in the morning there weren’t too many people, but they still had airport security, which May found super exciting, so at least she was waking up a little and becoming more energetic instead of sadder about leaving her dad. Somehow though, Liam had a feeling that that would change in a few hours. 

“I can do it, me and my dad have done this before.” May sounded very grown up talking to Liam’s mother as she offered to help her at the security check, much to the amusement of everyone else and Liam could just tell that she already had his mother wrapped around her little finger. 

“Do you wanna get some snacks for the plane? And something to drink?” Liam asked her once they had reached the right gate, surprisingly still with a lot of time left. “C’mon, they always give out way too little food. Are you hungry?”

“A bit.” The girl admitted, immediately taking Liam’s outstretched hand because she had latched onto it before as well. Plus, Liam was terrified of losing her out of his sight, so that wouldn’t happen if he just held onto her. 

So they went to buy some stuff, also for Liam’s parents while they just waited at the gate, and Liam also texted Niall with his free hand, telling him to finally go back to sleep because he had arrived back home again like 10 minutes ago. Liam kinda hated that the younger man would be super tired in a few hours because he’d go to work, but it seemed to make Niall feel a lot better because he wasn’t taking as much time off, so… if it made him happy.

Liam got way too much food, but he literally didn’t care, he just wanted to make sure he had something in case May got hungry or wanted a snack or candy or whatever the hell else. Like, he was truly determined to make this experience as fun as possible for her, even though not all aspects of it were fun, and actually, Liam was already stressed out thinking about how much they’d have to rush after getting off this plane. 

“When are you going back to school, love?” Liam’s mother asked May when they had gotten back and Liam was letting her indulge on candy for breakfast because he hadn’t been able to say no when she had asked.

“Ummm… On Monday. I think. That’s in… “ She counted on her fingers, having to start over again though and Liam almost wanted to help out, but she figured it out herself in the end. “Five days.”

“Oh wow. Are you excited already to see all your friends again?” Not a good thing to bring up, but it was too late.

“Yeah, but I also see them when I’m not in school. And they also came to my birthday party. My daddy says I can’t tell them about going to America though because it’s a secret.” It was so May to just blurt out with the entire truth, so Liam ignored his parents’ stare at him. “I wish I could stay home from school for a lot longer.”

“Liam never liked going to school either when he was your age, but then he loved going when he got older.” Liam’s dad was straight out lying, because it had been exactly the other way around, but Liam refrained from interrupting. 

“I don’t think I will like it when I get older.” Was all May had to say to this, shrugging a bit before eating some more candy and Liam refrained from laughing, taking some chocolate from her when she offered it to him. 

Everything went fine, the waiting wasn’t too long and then when they boarded the plane, May was super excited about the seats they had because they were first class and Liam was just relieved that she seemed to not be worried about going without Niall for now. He did text the younger man again that they were about to take off even though Niall had gone back to sleep thankfully. Not for very much longer, but at least something.

“How many movies can we watch before we’re there?” May wanted to know after looking out of the window had gotten too boring for her. They were still on the ground and she had kept her face glued to the window for about 5 minutes before turning back to Liam. 

“Like, 4 or something. But we can also do other things, your dad packed some stuff in your backpack, remember?” He had, thankfully, like games and books and things to color with and toys and Liam had then offered to just pack a few of May’s clothes into his own bag so there’d be more space in her backpack. Anything to keep her entertained. “You just tell me what you wanna do and we’ll do it. Or you can also take a nap if you get tired.”

“Okay. I’m cold.” Oh.

So Liam made sure to give her the blanket every seat had, wrapping it around her before offering her more snacks and something to drink and then she was super excited for take off anyways, so that was great. All in all, it seemed to go perfectly well for now, but that really didn’t mean anything at all because it had only been about an hour. Out of like, a whole day. 

 

\---------------------

 

May wasn’t thinking too much about missing her dad for now because Liam was there after all, and she was a big girl and everything, she had spent a lot of time with babysitters and her grandparents and anyways, the plane was super exciting and she got to watch movies and eat as many sweets as she wanted because Liam never said no to anything. 

Still, the time was moving a little bit slowly and after one and a half movies, May was getting a bit bored. Also, the candy was making her feel a bit sick and Liam was doing things on his laptop that she didn’t understand even after staring at the screen for a bit. Upon looking back behind them, Liam’s mom and dad were both asleep as well, so May let herself fall into her seat again, taking off the headphones because the movie was boring as well. 

“Do you wanna watch something else?” Liam asked almost immediately and the girl shook her head, no, she didn’t because the other movies hadn’t looked so exciting either. They weren’t like the movies they had at home and she had already seen the rest. “Are you hungry?”

“No. My tummy hurts a bit.” May told him, because her dad had said she could tell Liam anything that she would have also told him, although Liam looked a bit more worried than her dad normally would have, so she helped him out. “From the candy. Daddy never lets me eat this much.”

“Oh. Okay. Maybe you should drink some water and then it gets better?” He sounded a little bit as if he thought it was more than just a tummy ache, so that worried May as well, so she agreed even though there was nothing she hated more than just water. It did get a little better though. “What do you wanna do now?” 

“I don’t know, I’m bored and I’m tired, but I don’t wanna sleep. What are you doing on your laptop?” That was a lot more exciting than staring out of the window, because it surely wasn’t so interesting anymore after such a long time. It was just clouds and sky and nothing else. 

“It’s just some things for my new album.” Liam explained, so that got May a little excited because she still liked Liam’s music even though now that he was always spending time with her and her dad she didn’t care too much anymore about pictures of him or his Instagram or things like that. After all, he was kinda like a second dad to her even though May also knew she shouldn’t call him that because she didn’t wanna make her dad sad. And also, she’d never love anybody as much as her dad. “You know what? I could play you a song from the new album, it’s not quite finished yet but no one has heard it besides maybe three people, so it’s kinda special.”

“Okay! Has my daddy heard it?” May asked as she took one of the headphones when Liam offered it to her, pulling her legs up on the seat because she had taken off her shoes a whole while ago already because she knew she wasn’t allowed to make it dirty.

“He hasn’t, actually. I always forget to play it to him. Alright, tell me what you think.” And then Liam did some clicking on his laptop before the song started and May listened intently.

She didn’t understand all of the lyrics or what it really meant, but the song was nice and she liked Liam’s voice. She could tell that Liam was watching her while she was listening, so maybe he really cared what she thought because she did know his other songs very well after all. 

“I like it. What’s it about? It’s a little bit slow.” Which May didn’t dislike, but usually she liked his songs that made her feel happy more, but she didn’t wanna make Liam sad so she didn’t say that. 

“Ummm… “ Liam hesitated, and maybe he didn’t even know himself, but then he suddenly leaned forward a bit. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course.” May half whispered back, because it was a _secret_ after all. 

“It’s kind of about your dad. Some parts of it.” Oh.

“Really? And he doesn’t even know?” Wow, that was exciting, a song about _her_ dad, on _Liam’s_ album. 

“Not yet. I don’t know if I’ll really put it on the album, I’ll have to play it to him first, see if he likes it.” Liam explained, shrugging a little bit.

“I think he will like it, I like it. But then a lot of people will hear it and then everyone will ask what the song is about and I thought you and daddy said no one should know that we know you.” A little bit confusing, and May also didn’t 100% understand why she couldn’t tell anybody, not even her best friends, but she’d never break a promise to her dad. 

“Yeah, I know… but I wouldn’t tell everyone who it’s about. A lot of my songs aren’t really about anyone or anything in particular, you know.” Right, May did know that, because she had asked Liam a lot about other songs that he had that she really liked. “But as long as your dad likes it then I’m happy.”

“You could give it to him for his birthday.” It was very soon, May didn’t know the exact date, but it was always enough time for her to make something in school in the first week after the summer or so. 

“You’re right, that’s a very good idea, May, thank you.” He seemed to really think so and he smiled at her, so May felt really proud of it. 

“You’re welcome. I like that my birthday and yours and my dad’s are so close together, it’s fun.” She also had a present for Liam of course, but she didn’t have it with her so he wouldn’t see it. Her dad had already packed it in his things though, while May had been watching just to be sure. 

“That’s very true, they really are close together, huh? Did you know that Louis’ birthday is actually _on_ Christmas Eve?” What?!

“Really?! That is so cool. I wish my birthday was on Christmas as well, he probably gets so many presents all at once.” He HAD to, right?! It was Christmas after all. AND his birthday. “But Louis is a lot older than you and my dad, right?”

“A few years, yeah. Why? Do you think he looks a lot older than us?” Liam let out a laugh when May nodded though she didn’t know why because it wasn’t a joke, he did look older. “I’m a year older than your dad as well.” 

“Really? But you don’t look like it. But my dad said when people get older a year or two isn’t that much anymore. When I talk to someone at my school who is 9 then they always treat me like a baby.” They really did, it was annoying. “Is it true that you liked going to school when you were a child?”

“I mean… not always, of course. But it was still fun, overall. What don’t you like about school?” So then May made sure to tell Liam all about it, and luckily she stopped being bored while talking to him.

They also played a game after that and then May somehow got very tired, but she also had to pee really bad. Liam went with her, but he waited outside, and May had a bit of trouble figuring out how to flush the toilet, but she worked it out all by herself in the end and felt super proud so that was great. 

She talked to Liam some more when they were back in their seats and because they were so big and comfortable, May didn’t have a lot of trouble falling asleep. Especially because Liam got her a pillow and he also got her bunny from her backpack for her so it was almost like sleeping at home in her own bed. Almost. 

When May woke up again, they were still on the plane and she didn’t really know where she was for a few moments after rubbing her eyes, but then it all came back very quickly. Liam was still next to her, but he was sleeping now, so she knew better than to wake him. Looking between the seats behind them, his parents were also still asleep and May didn’t know how to work the TV on her own, so that was a little bit boring, but she managed to keep herself busy for a little bit. 

Now she did start missing her dad, because she didn’t really know how many more hours until she would see him again and it was also kinda scary to go to another country without him when May had only ever been to one other city before. Liam was there though, so that was calming her down, because she knew he’d never leave her alone and always be there to help her, just like her dad.

So maybe that was why May slowly reached out to shake his arm a little bit, but only when she got REALLY bored. 

“Liam?” She asked, quietly although she kinda wanted him to wake up immediately so she could ask him for some more snacks. “Are you awake?”

“Hmmm?” Was all he made, not sounding very awake at all, so she kept trying until he started moving, slowly blinking his eyes open and yawning. “Sorry… are you okay? Did something happen?”

“No, but I can’t sleep anymore. And I’m a little hungry… how much longer until we’re there?” May didn’t wanna be a baby and keep asking about it, but she still really wanted to know.

“One second… “ Liam told her, yawning again before looking at his watch. “Around two hours, we slept for a really long time, that’s good. Do you wanna watch another movie? There’s still enough time for one more.”

“No, the movies are all boring.” They were, May would have enjoyed them more than doing nothing though, but now that Liam was awake she was hoping they could do something instead. “Can we play something?”

“Yeah, of course.” He agreed immediately, yawning again while going through his stuff to offer May some more snacks and though she was very happy about getting to eat so much candy, she did kinda miss her dad now. But she didn’t tell Liam that, because she knew they couldn’t call anybody on a plane, even though she didn’t really know why.

May was still tired, and she knew Liam was too, but he still played with her for the rest of the flight and talked to her about whatever she wanted, so May kinda forgot about everything else. At least for as long as they were still on the plane.

 

\---------------------

 

Liam was worried about how little May had slept, and how little he himself had slept while his parents actually looked rather well rested when they got off of the plane. There really wasn’t any time to worry about this though because Liam was suddenly a lot more stressed out by other things, for example pictures being taken at the airport, and losing May if he ever let go of her hand for a single second, and texting Niall back even though he was currently at work, and making it to places on time most of all.

“You know she could also stay with us.” Liam’s mother told him when they had arrived at the hotel, and May had promptly fallen asleep on the bed even though they’d have to leave again in literally 15 minutes. “She looked so exhausted before, I don’t think she would even wake up until you’re back again.”

“I promised Niall I wouldn’t leave her out of my sight, and that I’d take her with me everywhere I go. And she was excited about coming along to the interview.” Of course that had been before the flight and before she had barely gotten any sleep. “I imagined all of this a little bit easier. I know that was a bit naïve, but now if I think about how many people will probably see her with me… “

“You’ve discussed this with Niall though, right? Please tell me you have.” She sounded worried all of a sudden and Liam rolled his eyes a bit, because of course he had talked to Niall about everything.

“We have, but that doesn’t mean we want her face everywhere. Again.” Who knows who had seen them on the plane though, or getting off it, like, there was never really a guarantee for anything at all. Niall knew that though, and Liam had promised him he’d take every measure to keep May from getting photographed, only now he didn’t really know how to do that. “I’ll wake her and ask her if she wants to stay here. I’m sure Niall would be okay with it.”

Liam’s parents didn’t look as if they thought it was a good idea for Liam to go and wake May, but he went to do it anyways because they were running a little bit out of time here. It’s not that it was hard taking care of May because of her or anything, just the general situation.

“Hey, May… can you wake up for a bit?” Liam tried to wake her gently, sitting next to her on the bed and rubbing her back. He should have definitely tried to get her to sleep some more on the plane, her sleeping schedule would be off the entire time being here and who even knew if she’d recover until she’d have to go back to school in a few days? And then Niall would surely never agree to something like this again. It was already complicated enough as it was. 

“I wanna sleep… “ The little girl mumbled into the pillow, and the sight was really pulling on Liam’s heartstrings. He almost just let her sleep, almost, but he had promised Niall to keep her with him, and he had promised her that she’d get to come with him wherever he went. And who was he to decide for her, he couldn’t just get up and leave while she was asleep.

“I know you do, I’m sorry I have to wake you. I have to leave in a little bit for my interview, but you can also stay here if you want, with my parents, and I’ll be back soon a-“

“I wanna come with you… “ May told him immediately, blinking her eyes open and moving a little, clearly uncoordinated as she tried to sit up, so Liam helped her even though it was making his heart feel heavy. They should have known this wouldn’t end well. “Don’t go without me.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you, I told you you can come to wherever I go, right?” So now Liam really couldn’t go back on that. “Do you think it will be okay if we have to go in a few minutes? You can sleep some more in the car as well.”

“Yeah… I’m awake.” She lied, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, but somehow only looking more sleepy than before. “When is my daddy coming?”

“In a few hours, he’s still at work, okay? But he’s coming.” Liam promised, already with a bad feeling in the depth of his stomach, but for now the little girl just nodded while Liam brushed some hair out of her face, attempting to fix it a little bit. 

He did get May to walk on her own a couple minutes later, after she had asked him to tie up her hair and he had failed dramatically, but luckily his mother had been there to take care of that. She was obviously judging Liam for his choice of dragging May with him, but Liam did it anyways, even if she seemed to almost be falling asleep every step they took.

The hotel had an underground garage, so that was no problem at all, and May was sleeping the entire drive long, but when they arrived at their destination, there was yet another issue.

“There are more people than we thought.” One of Liam’s team members told him from the passenger seat of the car because Liam was in the back with May, looking out of the window feeling a tiny bit sick and panicked. “There’s no other way inside, but they’re calm and we can make sure no one takes any pictures. But they will still see her.”

“Yeah… well, I don’t have a choice.” Plus they were already late, which Liam hated because he didn’t wanna be that snobby celebrity that made everyone wait but here they were. Hopefully Niall wouldn’t freak out over this, Liam would have understood if he did. “I’ll walk around the car to get her out, can you put something over her? A hoodie or something?”

Though no one seemed to think Liam’s idea was that great, they still did it exactly how he had suggested, though that already turned into a whole other challenge because as soon as Liam got out of the car, people were saying his name, asking for pictures and autographs, which he normally did, but today was just different.

Liam’s bodyguard lifted May out of the car without waking her, handing her over to Liam before putting someone’s hoodie over her to hide her face even though that was probably really pointless anyways. At least she was still soundly asleep even despite the noise, and also kinda heavy to carry, but it was only for a few steps anyways. 

“I’ll come back out later, sorry.” Liam repeated that a few times, apologizing to people but also trying not to listen to any questions because they surely were about May and he actually didn’t even want to know. Also, he wasn’t sure if he’d actually be able to come back out later, but he definitely wanted to.

The moment luckily passed very quickly and once Liam was inside, he felt himself relaxing again, letting the hoodie slip off of May so she wouldn’t get a heat stroke or anything. She was still deeply asleep when Liam had to put her down on the couch in his dressing room, now starting to stress out about her having to stay backstage during the interview. It was pre-recorded and without an audience so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but May couldn’t be on camera of course.

Liam’s hope of her just sleeping through it all kinda got destroyed while Liam’s stylist was trying to make him look somewhat presentable. 

“When are we going back?” May asked from behind, in her sleepy voice, and Liam couldn’t turn around because he didn’t wanna make it even harder on his stylist by turning on the chair. 

“Soon, I promise. C’mere.” Liam told her so he could look at her and she did, although very slowly and while yawning, still rubbing her eyes when Liam lifted her on his lap. “Are you feeling a little less tired now?”

“No…. I’ve never been this tired before.” The little girl complained, playing with the collar of Liam’s button up that he had changed into. “Why do you need make up?”

“So he looks a little less tired.” Liam’s stylist answered for him, luckily not sounding bothered by it at all. “Do you wanna try?”

“Yes.” At least May’s face lightened up a little bit when she was offered that, and Liam made sure to close his eyes so she wouldn’t poke him. “It looks weird, I don’t like it.”

“It looks a lot different on camera, we’re gonna wipe it off again afterwards.” Liam comforted her, a little amused by it though because he was looking forward to that also. “Your dad texted me before asking if you’re doing okay.”

“I’m just sleepy… what else did he say? Is he already on a plane?” Right, maybe Liam shouldn’t have mentioned Niall, but he was desperately trying to keep her mood up. “I wish he was here already.”

“Me too. But he’s gonna get on the plane soon and then it won’t be long anymore, okay?” Niall would only arrive really late though, after May’s bedtime, although Liam wasn’t really sure whether she’d still have one after this trip and whether she’d even be able to sleep during the night. “And you know what? We’re gonna have so much fun today, you’re gonna forget all about being tired, I know it.”

“I don’t think I will.” Of course.

Liam suppressed a sigh while his stylist just straight out laughed at May’s answer while getting started on Liam’s hair. He tried his best to keep the girl awake when she let herself fall against him, asking about Niall a bit too often and Liam made sure to somehow move her a bit whenever her words were starting to come out slower.

“Do I really have to wait here? I don’t know anybody… “ May was starting to get nervous and very clingy right before Liam would have his interview. He had made sure that someone from his team was watching May and because there was no audience or anything and it was just a studio, it’s not like May had to stay hidden. But she also would have to let go of him. 

“It won’t be long, okay? I promise. And you can see me from where you’re standing, right?” She’d only be a few meters away, and normally Liam knew that she wasn’t this shy around people, but he was aware of how overwhelming so many strangers must have been. All while her dad wasn’t even with her, and Liam being the only person she knew. After all, even if she sometimes didn’t act like it, she was just a little girl. 

“Yeah, but that’s far away… and how long is not long?” She kept on asking, clinging to Liam’s hand while people were rushing around them, talking and being stressed out and really, it was possibly the worst place for May to be right now. Liam should’ve known. 

“A few minutes, it won’t be long, I promise. And you’re a big girl, right? You don’t have to talk to anybody, you can just stay right here and watch me, and then I’ll come back.” Liam hated having to make her feel like she HAD to do this and be brave and as if she wasn’t allowed to be scared, but he didn’t know what else to do. So much for having fun. “And-“

“Liam, they’re ready for you.” He got interrupted, so he simply gave a quick nod before making himself smaller in front of May, who looked panicked all of a sudden. 

“May, it’s going to be okay. Just stay right here and I’ll be right back and then we can leave and we can do whatever you want. We can even get some more candy.” Niall would have killed Liam had he known about the amount of candy his daughter had eaten in the past few hours, but Liam wasn’t a parent, and it was moments like these he really noticed just how helpless he was. 

“Okay… “ May didn’t at all look as if it was okay, but she did let go of Liam’s hand and Liam really had to get himself together right now so he wouldn’t screw up the entire interview because of how distracted he was. 

Of course he could see May from where he was sitting as well, so he really had to force himself to look at the interviewer instead and not behind her or anything, try to get it together. The interviewer wasn’t allowed to ask questions about the pictures and all the speculations although she probably had seen May anyways and knew that it was all true. Then again, this was just promo for Liam’s upcoming single from his album, so his personal life didn’t have a lot of space there anyways. 

At first it went fine, Liam tried not to look anywhere except at the interviewer, but after a while his eyes started to wander and his mind drifted back to May, and needless to say after they had had to take like 10 breaks and start over because of some technical difficulties and the lightening or whatever, it was already taking way longer than even Liam would have thought. 

“I really apologize for this, this wasn’t planned.” The interviewer herself was also getting a bit fed up with all this and normally Liam genuinely wouldn’t have cared, but today he kinda did.

“No problem.” He lied, keeping up his smile up until the moment that he suddenly couldn’t find May anymore. She had literally just been standing there a second ago looking nervous and breaking Liam’s heart, and now she was gone and Liam was immediately panicking. “Actually, if you could excuse me for just a sec-“

“Liam, stay there, she’s fine, she’s just having a little cry.” Someone from Liam’s team told him and honestly, how was she FINE if she was _crying?!_

“Is there anything I can help with?” The interviewer offered, seemingly confused about Liam half getting up and just leave during their forced break, but then remaining seated.

“No, it’s- can you just bring her to me then?” Honestly, Liam had had enough of this whole day, he just wanted to leave and stay in his hotel room with May until Niall got here. Which wouldn’t happen for fucking ages, so that was great.

No one from Liam’s team seemed to like that idea because it would only delay things further, but thankfully someone did bring May to him, while she was crying silently and didn’t even really look at Liam as she walked straight to him before wrapping her arms around him. Honestly, it couldn’t have gotten any worse at this point. 

“I’m sorry it’s taking so long.” Liam apologized, pulling her onto his lap and taking the tissue the interviewer was offering him for May, probably having a hundred questions ready that she wasn’t allowed to ask him, not even off camera. “There’s no need to cry, love, I’m right here.”

“I wish my daddy was here… “ May whispered while Liam attempted to dry her cheeks a little bit, his heart breaking all over again. He was really doing a terrible job, wasn’t he? 

“Me too… “ Was all Liam could think of, but he said it quietly enough so that only May could hear it.

The technical issues did get resolved after a while, and May let herself be talked into waiting on the side for a while longer, closer this time, but she was still crying a bit when Liam was finally done and they were able to leave. Which led to yet another problem, namely his fans outside.

“We can collect their phones. Or tell them they won’t get to talk to you if they take a picture of anything except one selfie with you. Or we could also just leave and-“

“No, I promised I’d be back.” Fuck, Liam hated this situation, May was clinging to his hand for dear life and Liam would have just felt too bad had he not kept his promise from before. “Okay, tell them the thing with the pictures, and I’ll try to be quick. May, stay close to me, okay? And don’t let go of my hand.”

“Are we going back now?” She sniffed, rubbing her eye with her free hand as she leaned into Liam.

“In a few minutes, okay?” Hopefully.

Going outside with her like this was kinda like a glimpse of how things would be if they did this more often, or if Niall was with him as well. There’d always be people, usually way more than this and less calm, and honestly, Liam was overwhelmed by the whole situation. To be fair though, he also hadn’t really thought it through that well beforehand or everything would have been different.

Liam had tried to clean May’s face a little before going outside with her again, but he was certain everyone could tell she had been crying. He tried not to pay attention to what everyone was saying and asking though, it was way too hectic anyways as he attempted to at least take a selfie with everyone, all while holding so tightly onto May’s hand that he was afraid he’d crush it or something. 

And then after FINALLY getting back into the car, Liam honestly didn’t think there’d be any more bad news. Except, there were, even if they were already over an hour old and not that big of a deal, but they still kinda made him wanna cry along with May.

 

_Niall 12:19  
We were about to get on the plane, but there is gonna be a delay, just so you know. I hope everything is okay? I can’t wait to see you, I hope it won’t get too late. xxx_

 

\------------------

 

Niall didn’t regret coming, but after getting off of this damned plane, he was seriously contemplating every single one of his life choices. It was 1 in the morning, like 2 hours later than it had been supposed to be, and they weren’t even at the hotel yet. 

To make matters even worse, somehow everyone else was in a great mood.

“Maybe we should all just go into your room with you and wake Liam singing happy birthd-“

“It’s one in the morning, and May is with him.” Niall interrupted Louis’ plans, trying not to sound too annoyed even though he was. Not only with Louis, but with all of them.

The thing was, Louis had thought it’d be such a great idea to surprise Liam by showing up also, and drag Harry along as well, and Niall had already known about it beforehand of course, but he hadn’t been allowed to tell Liam. He had warned Zayn though, who hadn’t cared just one bit because it seemed he was just really excited about getting to be here and Liam paying for everything.

Speaking of paying… Niall had been a little surprised by the fact that Louis had been able to just randomly book two flights for himself and Harry, but then again… he knew everyone from Liam’s team, and his parents, and they were somehow also in the same hotel so maybe he had made it work like that. Niall hadn’t asked, he had tried to sleep unsuccessfully for around 8 hours, being kept awake by the others talking and Harry and Zayn seemingly having used the chance to work out their differences or something.

The last thing Niall had needed was being forced to listen to an 8 hour conversation about the universe but here they all were.

“C’mon, don’t be so grumpy, it’s not even that late and you’ll get to sleep soon enough. You’ll feel the jet lag a lot less if you stay awake, I told you.” He hadn’t only told him, he had also elbowed Niall three times when he had been about to nod off. Three. Times. “This trip is gonna be great, you’ll see.”

“I think Niall wishes he would have just flown by himself.” Zayn threw in, which was pretty spot on to be honest. 

“Let him, he can be upset if he wants to, we’ll still have a good time without him.” Apparently Louis and Zayn were now best friends because of how bonding this experience had been, and Niall would think about all this tomorrow or something when he had finally slept.

Liam had sent someone to pick them up, some poor driver who had had to wait at the airport for bloody hours because of the delay, and sadly he seemed to know Louis well, so they had some reunion and another really animated conversation during the entire car ride. 

Niall had contemplated sleeping in Zayn’s room so he wouldn’t risk waking Liam or May, but when he got handed a room card to Liam’s room and accidentally listened in on yet another conversation between the other three, it really wasn’t that much of a choice anymore.

“See you guys tomorrow.” Niall quickly used the chance that they were all distracted to walk away and down the hallway. 

“Are y-“

And he never heard the rest of that question, because he had made sure to close the door immediately. Softly though, of course, even though the room was again divided into multiple ones and hopefully Liam had closed the bedroom doors.

Niall was using the flashlight of his phone to be extra careful, of course finding the second bedroom empty. He should have known May wouldn’t sleep alone tonight, especially not without Niall here, but it still worried him a bit because now he wasn’t so sure anymore if things had gone smoothly or not because he hadn’t talked to Liam in hours. Plus, the older man probably wouldn’t have told him had there been issues anyways because it would have only stressed Niall out and he couldn’t have changed it anyways.

So Niall changed his clothes before tiptoeing into the second bedroom, feeling a smile forming on his face because Liam had put up the night light for May, even though he had stayed with her as well and Niall just watched them both sleep for a moment, feeling all the pressure and tiredness falling off of him. He should have just swapped tickets with Liam’s father, that was pretty apparent by now.

May was almost falling off the bed, so Niall made sure to gently move her without waking her, tucking her in properly again and kissing the top of her head. He had known Liam would take good care of her, that she was safe with him, but he had still been worried of course.

Because of how big the bed was, Niall didn’t have any trouble getting in bed behind Liam, making sure to lift the blanket only momentarily. Usually he was the little spoon, but he didn’t mind switching their places today as he wrapped his arms around Liam, cuddling up to him and just breathing him in as he pressed his face into the older’s neck. 

“… Niall?” Liam sounded as if he was sleep talking, something he actually did once a while so Niall wasn’t too sure, but then the older man searched for his hand, so he pressed his lips against the back of Liam’s neck. 

“I’m here… sleep.” It hadn’t been his intention to wake anybody considering how late it was, so Niall hoped the older man would fall right back asleep. He didn’t though.

“I’m so glad you’re finally here… “ Liam mumbled, which, honestly, made Niall feel both happy but also a little bit worried because of how relieved it sounded despite the fact that his voice was so sleepy at the same time. “I love you… “

“I love you too, Li… was everything okay?” Niall wanted Liam to sleep, but now he just HAD had to ask this question also. 

“Mostly… we survived.” He joked sleepily, right before yawning and the younger man decided to just shut his mouth now and be happy with that answer. “How was the flight?”

“Too long.” Especially with Louis keeping him awake, but Niall couldn’t say that or he’d ruin the worst surprise ever and Liam wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. From fear of tomorrow probably. “Let’s just sleep… thank you for taking care of May.”

“No problem… “ Liam mumbled, and luckily he seemed to have fallen back asleep a moment later while Niall fought for a few more moments before drifting off also. As curious as he was to hear everything that had happened and whether it had all gone by alright, as much did he need his rest. Or the few hours he had left to get it.

 

\----------------

 

“Daddy, wake up!” This was definitely something Niall could have gone without, May jumping on top of him and causing him to jerk awake, her overjoyed voice upon seeing him both warming his heart and hurting his ears. 

“May, love, I think your dad is really t-“

“Did you bring my present for Liam?!” May completely ignored whatever Liam had been trying to say and Niall was already awake anyways, slowly blinking his eyes open to look right into his daughter’s face, way too close to his. 

“Yeah…. It’s in my backpack, but-“

“I’ll go and get it!” And then she had jumped off the bed and Niall had to rub his eyes and stretch before fully being able to take in the situation. Right. Liam’s birthday. 

“Happy birthday.” Niall managed to get out before another yawn, his eyes only barely having locked with Liam’s, who had come to sit on the mattress next to him, already dressed and laughing at the younger man as he leaned down to kiss him.

“Thank you. I’m so happy you’re here.” He repeated his words from last night, kissing Niall some more while the younger man tried to stay awake during it all, which turned out wasn’t all too easy despite Liam’s lips against his. 

“Me too… you’re probably not happy about my morning breath though, sorry.” Niall apologized though Liam seemed to have not even noticed. “How did it go?”

Liam didn’t answer immediately, he just looked down at Niall after leaning back, about to say something but he never got the chance to do it because May had already come back. Undoubtedly after emptying the contents of Niall’s bag all over the floor but whatever.

“I made this for you.” She proudly announced as she came back into the room with her drawing for Liam and another bracelet she had made at school. “Happy birthday.”

“Wow, thank you so much. Let me see… you really made that?” Liam managed to sound so damn impressed as if he really meant it while May climbed back onto the bed also and Niall forced himself to half sit up as well when she cuddled into him. 

“Yeah, I made it at school. Remember when I gave you the other bracelet that you wore and I thought maybe you needed a second one.” Had she not been a little girl, Niall would have said it sounded a bit like a hint since Liam wasn’t wearing the other bracelet. He had kept it though, Niall knew that for certain, along with her letter from back then. “Do you like the drawing? It took me really long, I’m not so good with water colors.”

“I love it, thank you so much, May.” Liam sounded genuinely happy as he smiled at her and her grin was giant when he continued. “I’m gonna have to make sure to put that up once we get back home.”

“I can help you.” She immediately announced, watching carefully as he put on the bracelet, as if she was afraid he was just pretending or something and Niall felt his heart warming a bit as he held her close, kissing the side of her head when she let herself fall into him. Damn it, he was so happy to finally be reunited with both of them again. “Daddy, you gotta give Liam your present as well.”

“I will do it later, okay, love?” Niall kinda wanted to give it to him when they were alone, which seemed to disappoint May slightly, but not as much as Liam apparently. Not for the same reasons though.

“Ni, I told you you shouldn’t have gotten me anything, you coming here is-“

“Not your present. And if it makes you feel better, I didn’t spend anything on it, and I also already had it.” That seemed to both confuse Liam but also make him calm down at the same time and Niall just smiled at him, reaching out to touch his arm as he looked at his daughter again. “So, now I wanna hear what happened while I wasn’t here. Did you have fun?”

“Umm… “ May started, actually sharing a look with Liam and Niall felt his stomach sinking a bit. Oh. 

“The flight was really long and… my interview wasn’t a lot of fun, for neither of us.” Liam explained after a moment, clearing his throat a little and looking apologetic, as if Niall would get upset over that. “And then we came back here and basically just… hung out with my parents, got room service and watched some cartoons until we fell asleep.”

“The cartoons were fun.” May threw in, as if she was trying to do damage control and make Liam feel better and Niall almost laughed, but he held back. “I wanted to wait up for you but Liam said we had to go to sleep.”

“He was right with that… are you still tired now?” She certainly didn’t look like it. 

“No, not at all. And I’m so happy you’re finally here, I really missed you, daddy.” Upon saying it, she pressed herself even closer and Niall felt himself smiling as he held her. “Liam really missed you too.”

“I missed you guys as well… did you say thank you to Liam for taking you with him?” Even if she hadn’t had fun, Liam had probably had even less of it as a consequence and Niall could tell he was beating himself up over it all, so he wanted to make sure May still appreciated the fact that he had offered to take her. “And for all the sweets he probably bought you?”

“Thank you.” May told him without hesitation and Niall grinned when he saw the older man struggling to keep looking at him.

“You’re welcome, love… it weren’t that many sweets. Just a few.” He told Niall while the younger man just laughed it off because honestly… it had been one day, who cared how much she had eaten and what. “Did Zayn find his room and everything last night? When did you get here?”

“After one in the morning… and yeah, he did. But also… “ Niall had to warn Liam somehow from what was to come. “There’s something else… kind of a surprise, but also… not really. And not from me. And it also wasn’t my idea, just so you know.”

At first, Liam looked confused as hell, and Niall was ready to just tell him, but there actually was no need to because somehow, Liam had figured it out in less than a minute. “Louis is here, isn’t he?”

“And Harry.” Niall added, relieved that he wouldn’t be the one to ruin the surprise. 

“Really?!” May chirped in as the only excited one and Niall just nodded. 

“Happy birthday.” Niall told Liam again, jokingly, and the older man rolled his eyes before lying down next to Niall, wrapping an arm around his stomach as he hid his face against his shoulder and the younger man petted his back. 

“Let’s just stay here, just the three of us.” They couldn’t, but for the moment, Niall enjoyed just pretending anyways.

 

\---------------------

 

It was the most eventful day ever considering how little sleep Niall had gotten last night, but somehow he made it through it all. Mostly through Liam’s very faked reaction to being “surprised” by Louis, who then of course accused Niall of having spoiled it all or something. It was nice though, getting to know Liam’s parents, seeing just how much everyone on Liam’s team cared about him when they got him a cake and everything backstage before his concert in the evening, hearing his fans singing happy birthday to him afterwards.

All in all, Niall was exhausted as hell when they were finally alone and May was sleeping, but not for a second had he regretted coming to spend Liam’s birthday here with him, even if they didn’t do anything besides hanging out at the hotel before and after the concert. Because their time together was sometimes very limited though, that felt like heaven anyways.

“How was it really? Yesterday, I mean?” Niall broke the comfortable silence they had fallen into, a little bit also so he wouldn’t fall asleep. Not sure how he’d even make it to bed, he was just really comfortable here with Liam on the couch, stroking his arm while they were looking out of the massive window front. 

“It was a bit exhausting… for both me and May. She really missed you and she was tired and the interview situation was… not ideal. But it got better once we just hung out here.” Liam answered slowly, his head feeling heavy on Niall’s shoulder. “She was being really good though, she was just overwhelmed with everything. And being away from you wasn’t easy for her… I’m sorry she didn’t have that much fun, I really tried… but I don’t think I did a very good job.”

“I’m pretty sure you did an amazing job. It’s not your fault she was tired, Li, I know you did your best and I’m really grateful that you took her with you.” And mostly that he had just offered, without thinking. “I’m really grateful in general that you wanted me to come so badly because I would have definitely regretted saying no and not getting to spend today with you… and getting to know your parents.”

“They really like you … my mom made sure to let me know around 20 times today. They absolutely adore May as well.” The older man let out a quiet laugh and Niall smiled as he lifted his head for a moment to kiss the top of Liam’s before resting his cheek against him once more. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything.” Did he really have to still ask that?

“Um… what exactly is your present to me?” Right.

“I’ve completely forgotten, sorry.” Niall felt a little stupid, but upon moving to get up, Liam just held on tighter to him. “Do you not want me to get it?”

“Just tell me.” Liam decided after a second, and the younger man really liked just how much he wanted him to keep on lying here with him, so he did.

“Okay. I got you a spare key, to my apartment.” To be fair, the idea had only come to Niall when he had randomly found another spare key that he hadn’t even known he had still had. It had almost felt like a wink from the universe or something, as Harry would have put it. “I thought since you spend so much time with us anyways… and since I want you to be able to come in even if it gets really late and I’m asleep… it’s not the best present, I know, but I did wrap it up really nice, and May made me put a bow on it right after telling me it’s the most terrible present in the world. She was kinda happy though, that I wouldn’t outshine her, I think.”

Liam didn’t answer immediately, he also didn’t join when Niall laughed but instead lifted his head and the younger man was really surprised to see him this emotional. “Ni… thank you. For trusting me so much, I… I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Li. You’re my boyfriend, and I love you. And May loves you and… “ And honestly, Niall would have asked him to move in had things been different. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, since these pictures have come out and everything and… “

“… and?” Liam asked, clearly thinking Niall was gonna follow it up with something bad when he really wasn’t. Not at all.

“And I think we should stop hiding. Like, not that we really had to do it that often, but what I mean is that… I’d be okay. If everyone found out, I mean. And you can confirm it, if you want. I wanna be with you and I trust you. Louis showed me some things on Twitter today while you were on stage, about people speculating because you had May with you yesterday and more articles about us and I know one day it will all come out anyways, so it’s okay. I know what I want and it’s you. I don’t care about the rest.” Niall truly meant it, he had thought about all the consequences, maybe not enough, but… he’d never cover them all anyways because this situation was unpredictable. And he had come to the conclusion that if he really wanted to fully be with Liam, he would have to come to terms with the uncertainty that came with it.

Liam didn’t answer immediately, in fact, he never did, he just stared at Niall, clearly shocked, but when he leaned over to kiss him kinda desperately as a reaction, Niall had never felt more at peace with a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone :)
> 
> i've done a lot of thinking lately and i realize that i keep saying this fic is gonna have drama and then no drama ever comes rip im so sorry about that. i promise there IS a plan and i will get to it all, but its exam season yet again (tho it seems it always is tbh) and im just the worst person in this world when it comes to keeping a fic short. i could stretch this fic out over the next two years (i wont! promise) and the reason is that i just get caught up in stuff and writing conversations and then suddenly the chapter is already 10K (which is already too long for a chapter but its my thing kinda idek).
> 
> anyways this is also getting too long yet again! i will do a little time jump in the next chapter, and force myself to get back into the fic completely without rambling and just pull it together. i do hope you enjoyed this chapter tho & that you didnt get bored & i definitely think we all need a bit of a switch of things tho and make it more exciting!!
> 
> ive also been thinking about trying to write oneshots (or two-shots), just to practice keeping things shorter because i realize that long doesnt necessarily raise the quality or the reading enjoyment (bc lets face it... my fics are too long.) and if i do ever magically have an idea for an actual book outside of fanfiction then i suppose i wouldnt get anywhere with the lengths im used to writing rip.
> 
> this is yet again too much rambling, im sorry! leave me anything down below, feedback, fic ideas, comments, your life troubles, improvement ideas, anything at all! only if you feel like it of course, but id appreciate it! <3 (and ill try to answer sooner than last week, sorry!)   
> hope you guys all have a great weekend & week! and hopefully this time next week ill have a chapter ready that isnt a little bit of a snooze fest lmao! love you guys!


	19. Chapter 19

“You need to stop.“ Louis told Liam with the kinda voice the other man really hated, because the last thing he needed right now was for his friend to tell him to cheer up.

“I’m not doing anything.” Liam defended himself, because he genuinely wasn’t. Except, he was sulking a bit on the couch, struggling to keep it together right now. “If you’re so bothered by it then just leave.”

“Yeah, right, if I leave then what are you gonna do?” Not cry, probably, because other people were around, but he still really wanted to do it anyways. “It’s not that big of a de-“

“It kinda is.” Someone from Liam’s team threw in upon walking by, quickening up his steps a bit when both Liam and Louis threw a glare at him.

“It’s not.” Louis decided, as if it was up to him or something. “It’s just a song, who cares.”

“ _I_ care. Everyone in my position would care, if I didn’t care then I could just stop trying.” Sounded like a pretty damn good idea right now, if Liam was being honest. Although it wasn’t the end of the world, and maybe he was being a little bit overdramatic here, but he didn’t really see that right now. 

“Maybe it’s not even about the song itself.” The older man was clearly trying to help, but he kinda just made it worse.

“So you’re saying it’s about Niall?” That was really the only other thing Liam could think of right now. Everyone had told him not to announce his and Niall’s relationship before the album or at least not before this single was out, but when Liam had done it, he hadn’t had much of a choice left when new pictures of them had emerged while Niall and May had been visiting him on tour.

And Liam hadn’t made a big deal of it, he wasn’t posting pictures of Niall, he hadn’t talked about him in interviews or anywhere except for that one single tweet on Niall’s birthday around 2 weeks ago, to put an end to the rumors spiraling out of control by that point.

“No? People took to it quite well and you don’t ever even talk about him.” Kinda true, Liam hadn’t seen any hate, but he had also stopped looking for that because he was a bit too old for this stuff. “Could be other factors, like not enough promo, or other songs coming out at the same time or people are busy going back to school and uni, I mean, it is September and-“

“The song just isn’t that good, period.” That was the core message here, there was nothing else to it.

“Just because it’s not a number one doesn’t mean it’s not that good. You’ve had other songs flo- not go number one.” Right.

“It flopped, just say it.” Liam let out a frustrated sigh, leaning back against the couch and covering his eyes with his arm. He wanted to go home, but he couldn’t because he had interviews to do and more promo for his album and whatnot and honestly… couldn’t he just scratch all of that? Who had thought it’d be a good idea to schedule all this the day they’d find out where his single had landed in the charts? Someone with a lot of trust in Liam, apparently, that was now probably gone. “I might cancel everything.”

“I’m calling Niall.” Was all Louis answered to that and Liam didn’t react immediately because he hadn’t even been listening that closely, busy wallowing in self-pity.

“Wait, no-“

But it was too late, Louis had already walked off and now Liam felt even more like an idiot. He didn’t even know if Niall would pick up the phone because Liam had no idea how late it was and it also didn’t really matter that much to him because when it was time to go and give an interview, someone would have come to get him or something, but people were just rushing around him, talking and stressing out and yeah, Liam actually had nothing at all to do right now, but he still felt exhausted from it. Like a real diva or something, it’s just… he was disappointed.

When Louis came back a few minutes later, Liam still hadn’t moved, he also wasn’t sure if he wanted Niall to come or not, but he wasn’t given a choice in the matter anyways.

“He’s coming.” Louis announced as he let himself fall on the couch next to Liam again, eating some grapes from the catering he had probably picked up on the way. Or during the conversation with Niall. 

“Why did you do that? He’s probably really busy, with work or-“

“He’s not, he’s got a bit of time, I think. Anyways I didn’t even have to ask him, he said he’d come before I said more than that you’re not quite doing so well because of that single thing.” Niall had probably already known about it anyways, but Liam hadn’t looked at his own phone because he honestly hadn’t even wanted to read anyone’s text messages to it, or his mother sending him condolences or something, trying to cheer him up with a picture of his dog. “I’ll be honest, I kinda called him because I don’t know what to tell you anymore but I feel responsible.”

“You’re not, it’s fine, I’m fine.” Liam lied, not even managing to convince himself though, not even for a second. Damn it, he had really thought he had this in the bag kind of, which only made it around 50 times worse than it already was. “What if my album also flops?”

“Then nothing. It happens.” Louis shrugged and Liam realized he was the worst person to talk with about this. “But it won’t, it comes out right before Christmas. And even if it does then whatever, why’s it matter? You had so many number one albums, you can’t always break your own records, you need to relax, mate.”

“How?” Literally, HOW?

The older man apparently didn’t know what to say to that, he just shook his head at Liam when he let out a frustrated sigh. They didn’t talk anymore because Louis took out his phone, texting people. Probably convincing some of his colleagues not to trash talk Liam too much in their articles. Or maybe that was just a product of Liam’s imagination but he would have been grateful either way.

Lately, no good articles had been written about him, neutral ones at best. Still, Liam didn’t regret making his relationship with Niall public, it had been necessary and the longer he would have let it drag on, the harder it would have gotten to finally say it in the end. Plus, Liam had almost spent a month at home now because he was on break from his tour before the final few dates in Australia and Asia, and he hadn’t spent more than two nights in his own bed. All this time with Niall and May and slipping into a more normal routine was making it a little hard for Liam to fully find back into his job somehow.

Louis offered to go and get Niall from outside when he arrived, because it was a public building and all and they had booked it for the interviews, so Niall couldn’t have just walked inside. Although, he might have, because people on Liam’s team already knew him of course. Everyone did by now.

It was weird watching Niall walk in from across the room, people greeting him and whatnot, and though Liam had seen him just this morning and every single day for almost a month, he still couldn’t look away from him, didn’t want to. It was amazing how much he could brighten up this entire room, and Liam’s mood with it, just by walking in with a slightly concerned look on his face as he came over to Liam.

“Hi… “ Niall leaned down to kiss Liam before sitting down next to him, putting a hand on his thigh, their legs touching because of how close he was. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine. Louis was exaggerating.” Liam lied, although he hadn’t even been there when Louis had called Niall, but the oldest man refrained from exposing Liam and simply rolled his eyes as he sat opposite them. “You really didn’t have to come, I know you have to work and-“

“I don’t, I’ve got two hours. I thought you were busy doing interviews because you weren’t answering my texts or I would’ve come anyways.” Oh.

“Sorry about that, I, um… wasn’t really feeling like checking any messages… “ Liam cleared his throat a bit, covering Niall’s hand with his own before he leaned back against the couch. He knew he had already given himself away, and Niall was even better at reading him than anybody else anyways. “I’m happy you’re here though.”

“Well, good, because I just got ready in like 5 seconds for you.” Niall joked, although he didn’t at ALL look as if he had gotten ready that quickly, he looked a ton better than Liam even after his stylists were already done with him. “So… how are you really doing?”

Liam was actually about to lie again, but this was Niall, and the look on his face was soft and the way he was staring at the older man just always made him blurt out with whatever was on his mind. “Not so great… it sucks. I know it’s not THAT bad, and it’s still top 25 or something, but… everyone thought it’d do better. _I_ thought it’d do better and now… it’s kinda embarrassing. And I’m scared the album is just gonna do really bad as well. And then everything will go bad and then I’ll just keep on flopping and that’s it.”

“I told you it was bad.” Louis threw in before Niall had had a chance to reply but they both ignored him.

“Li, that’s not going to happen, okay? I know it feels like it right now, but you know that that wouldn’t happen. Even if your album did flop, then so what? Not everything you do has to go to number one, I know you want it to and I really admire you for always putting your whole heart into everything and I really wish it could have turned out how you wanted it to, but it’s not the end of the world, okay? It will be fine, you’ll be okay.” He would, but only because he had Niall and not because his album would do so amazingly well that Liam would forget about today. “I know nothing I say right now is making it any better, I’m sorry.”

“It is kinda making it better… you being here is too.” Really though, Liam wasn’t just saying that and lying to make Niall happy so he hoped the younger man knew that. “I just wish I didn’t have to go and do like a billion interviews today.”

“I’m sorry… “ Niall looked like he was sorry when he leaned over to kiss Liam’s cheek and the older man knew he was pitying himself a bit too much, but he couldn’t help it when Niall was feeding into it. “I’ll try to stay here as long as I can, if that makes it better.”

“It does… “ Liam admitted, even though he’d feel bad if Niall came late to work or something, but just today he’d try not to think about that and be a bit selfish.

Liam could only imagine the look on Louis’ face when he watched Niall kissing Liam’s forehead before pulling him to rest his head on his shoulder, but he didn’t really care because he had to admit that being held by his boyfriend was probably the only thing giving him comfort right now. Now if only they could have been alone preferably at home then maybe Liam would have been just fine again. In a couple hours at least. 

The fact that Liam was over reacting to such an extend and refused to look at his phone or check the time also meant that he actually couldn’t even prepare himself for anything happening today, but he chose to simply ignore that in favor of letting himself be comforted by Niall. Even though his boyfriend wouldn’t be able to help him later once it was time for Liam to actually talk to an interviewer, but whatever. 

“Doesn’t May have to do her school project today?” Liam thought about it randomly, in a desperate attempt to keep his mind busy with other things.

“Yeah… it’s already over by now I guess. I’m sure it went just fine. She’s gonna tell you all about it tonight.” Niall let out a quiet laugh, rubbing his hand up and down Liam’s arm and just that was somehow enough for the older man to already feel better. “What was it about again? I didn’t even look at it anymore when you said you’d do it.”

“It was about bunnies.” Somehow it had been quite a lot of fun to help May with that, it hadn’t taken long at all and all they had really done was make a poster and May had somehow been so impressed with Liam’s drawing skills that she had refused to draw anything herself. Which Niall had found hilarious once he had found out about it. “Didn’t you look at the poster?”

“Briefly. Sorry, I know you did most of the work and put your whole heart into it.” The younger man joked and Liam would have rolled his eyes, but he was too lazy to even do that. Plus, Niall couldn’t see his face anyways so whatever. “I hope you know all about bunnies now.”

“I certainly do, I’m an expert now.” Seriously though, who had known kids had to retain this much information for a simple report about animals at school? “I was quite impressed by how fast she remembered it all.”

“She does remember things really fast, that’s true… but don’t tell her that, I don’t want her to think she can rely on that forever and one day she’s 15 and her teacher calls me to tell me she failed every single one of her classes.” It was SO Niall to worry about school things literally 8 years away, but at least it made Liam smile, momentarily having forgotten about that flop of a single he had decided to put out. 

“I won’t say anything, but you know that wouldn’t happen. I mean, failing _every_ class seems a bit… “ A bit extreme.

“I almost failed all of my classes once, when I was like… a teenager or something. It was pretty embarrassing.” Liam couldn’t really tell if Niall was joking or not, but he sounded quite serious. “Even art. I mean, how can you fail art, right? That’s what I thought too, but apparently you can.”

“Maybe you-“

“Liam, you know you have your first interview soon, right?” Someone from his team had come to interrupt them, not looking quite happy taking in the whole scene in front of her, probably because Liam was half lying on his boyfriend with no intention of getting up anytime soon. “They’re running late, but I’ll come get you in a few minutes, so can you please try and… fake some motivation?”

“I am motivated.” Liam lied, this time rolling his eyes for real. What the hell? “I’m just not super happy, that’s all.”

“If everyone’s running late then surely it would be okay for Liam to get a bit more preparation time, right?” Niall threw in, all confident and whatnot and maybe that was why there was no response, except for a grunted “I guess” before they were left alone again, Louis bursting out with laughter. 

“You guys are literally that kinda couple no one wants to argue with, ever.” Maybe, but also, Liam couldn’t help but feel more than just proud of Niall right now. And also thankful of course, because he definitely needed those extra few minutes. “You should just let Niall do all the talking for you from now on, he’s much better at getting you what you want.”

“Maybe I should.” Liam agreed, kinda jokingly, but also… he would have done it. Had Niall always been around for work things, and had it not made Liam look a bit as if he couldn’t speak up himself. 

“Then you also gotta pay him for it though, ‘cos I doubt that’s an easy job.” Louis wasn’t being serious, he was still laughing and everything, but it still made Liam think for a second. It wasn’t the first time this was on Liam’s mind, just paying Niall to do some imaginary job for him, like be his assistant or whatever, just so they could spend more time together and he could just quit his other jobs. 

Niall would have never agreed to it though, so Liam wouldn’t have ever even dared joking about it.

They did actually have another 10 minutes or so before Liam had to force himself to actually get up, and Niall just walked with him as far as he could, watching Liam’s interview from the side and he was still there when it was over and Liam had a break. It was nice knowing Niall was there, even if he wasn’t saying much and just stayed close whenever they had the chance and Liam decided that a single that wasn’t doing so well definitely wasn’t the end of the world. Not when everything in his private life was going so well. 

Plus, there was still a whole album. And a song about Niall he still hadn’t played to him.

 

\----------------------

 

Niall didn’t really know how to help Liam other than to just be there for as long as he could before he had to leave for work, but the older man definitely seemed a lot more energetic and less disappointed when they were forced to say goodbye for a few hours.

Still, Niall went about the rest of his day thinking about Liam, hoping he was doing alright, that he wasn’t beating himself up too much. Niall knew he couldn’t ever really understand what it was like for him, that it wasn’t _just_ a song, and especially not to Liam because he always really took these things to heart. 

When Liam came home in the evening though, while Niall was busy making dinner and May was busy building some blanket or pillow fort in the living room, he seemed to be in much better spirit. At least that’s what it sounded like when Niall heard May being overly excited about his arrival from the other room. Liam had a key, so he could just let himself in although he had refused to do that a few times until Niall had jokingly told him to just get it together.

“Hey… everything okay? How was work?” Liam had been so quiet walking into the kitchen that Niall almost flinched a bit when he suddenly wrapped his arms around him from behind, placing a kiss on his clothed shoulder.

“Good, it was fine. How are you doing?” That was the much bigger question here. Niall couldn’t really move and he also didn’t want to, so he stayed where he was, leaning his head a bit against Liam’s and letting himself fall back into the older man. It had only been a few hours since they had been forced to part, but Niall had still really missed him.

“I’m okay… a lot better than earlier. I think I just needed to get up and do things, I kinda forgot about it a few times, so… it’ll be fine. I over reacted a bit.” He let out a nervous laugh, kissing Niall’s cheek and then his lips before slowly letting go of him to pull himself up on the counter instead, watching the younger man. “Looks really good.”

“It’s not done yet.” Niall repeated the same thing he had said to May a few minutes ago, they were both terrible when it came to wanting to taste food he was making. “I don’t think you were over reacting at all, you- Liam, it’s too hot. And it’s not done.”

“It looks done.” The older man honestly sounded disappointed when Niall stopped him from tasting the food, laughing a bit because he couldn’t believe his grown boyfriend was even WORSE than his daughter. “I did over react though… everyone told me afterwards. But maybe it’s a good thing I’m the only one who thought it was the end of the world.”

“Still, no one can tell you how to feel or not. It’s your song, not anybody else’s.” Okay, maybe Niall shouldn’t pour more salt into the wound. “I like the song. And May does, too, and we’re the only critics that matter anyways. And your mother.”

“My mother loves it.” She loved everything Liam did, so Niall really bonded with her over that whenever they saw each other. Or talked on the phone, because they had done that a few times ever since Liam’s birthday, so now Niall’s own mother was bugging him about meeting Liam’s parents and it all started to feel even more serious than it already was. 

“See? And I’d tell you if I don’t like a song, like that one you played to me that you wanted to put on the album. The fast one.” Although, Niall had maybe been a little tired that night and a bit too brutally honest, but Liam had just found it funny anyways.

“I know… what if I wrote a song about you and you hated it? Would you tell me?” He sounded genuinely curious and Niall felt himself panic a bit, covering the pot with a lid before stepping in between Liam’s legs. 

“I’d probably die from embarrassment before I could say anything at all.” Oh god, hopefully Liam wouldn’t ever do that, like… yeah, Niall would have probably felt flattered, but only if it stayed between them and no one ever heard it. 

“Why? Other people would say that’s really romantic.” Liam defended himself and Niall slowly shook his head at him, stretching a bit so they could kiss for a moment. “You’re so hard to impress.”

“It’s so you won’t get bored.” Niall joked, winking at Liam before pecking his lips again, petting his thigh as he stepped away. “Don’t pull that face, you love me. Do you wanna taste it now?”

“Yes.” The older man answered immediately, so eager and fast that Niall just laughed, calling May into the kitchen as well so it wouldn’t be unfair to her. Sometimes he felt like he had two children or something, but not in a bad way of course.

Luckily May didn’t bring up Liam’s song over dinner, she had wanted to before Liam had gotten here, so Niall had quickly made sure to tell her that they weren’t gonna talk about that. Or listen to it. Though she didn’t really understand why, she had agreed though, after Niall had allowed her to listen to it 10 times in a row after she had finished her homework, to make up for it.

Instead, they spent dinner talking about her project, and how she had told absolutely everyone that Liam Payne had helped her with it and drawn things on the poster for her. Ever since Liam had confirmed their relationship on Niall’s birthday, they had kinda had to allow May to tell her friends, though Niall had told her to wait until someone brought it up to her, and that she shouldn’t brag.

So that clearly wasn’t working out in any way. 

At least it also kept her friends from asking if they could come over when he was there or get an autograph from Liam or something, simply because they probably knew May would have just said no because she wanted him all to himself. Also, Niall hadn’t gotten an angry phone call from any parents yet, so maybe May was only subtly bragging, whenever it was appropriate. Or something.

They had somewhat fallen into a routine by now, like one of them did the dishes and the other got May ready for bed or helped her with whatever needed to be done for school the next day and it all kinda worked out automatically so they never talked about it, but Niall still thought about it each and every time. He had never even considered how nice this would be, to have someone there to help him with everything. 

“Louis is still texting me about this stupid song, he wants me to move on but he’s the one who keeps reminding me.” Liam grumbled from the bed while Niall tried to sort out his closet after having forgotten to put away the laundry earlier. Sometimes that just happened. “And my mother asks if you can send her some recipe… what’s that about?”

“Nothing, I just showed her something I made and she thought your dad would like it.” Niall shrugged, a bit more focused on his clothes right now, so he wasn’t really thinking about whether Liam thought it was weird that he was texting his mother sometimes. Actually though, SHE texted him, so it would’ve been rude not to answer and Niall didn’t mind at all. “Tell Louis to annoy Harry instead.”

“I’ll just ignore him… but then he’s gonna think I’m still upset.” Right.

“Are you still upset?” The younger man asked after a moment before throwing a look over his shoulder where Liam was literally sprawled out over the bed, taking up even the tiniest bit of space somehow. He had been lying her for the past 20 minutes now waiting for Niall to come lie down as well but had apparently given up on hoping. God, he was so cute.

“A bit, but like… not actively.” Liam explained while typing something on his phone, probably to Louis and Niall genuinely thought about taking his phone away, just so he couldn’t be reminded of that stupid song anymore.

“I’m sure it’d help not to talk about it even more and look up more reviews.” Which he had done ever since he had finished doing the dishes while Niall had brought May to bed, and he was still doing it now after they had gotten ready for bed themselves. “It’s just one single song, out of… how many are on the album? A ton. You just chose the wrong single, that’s all.”

“It’s annoying though… and I don’t even know if another one would have done equally as bad. Oh my god, maybe it would have been even worse.” Now Liam sounded genuinely distressed again and Niall sighed as he threw one last look at his closet before walking over to the bed.

“Give me your phone.” He demanded, stretching out his arm and he was slightly surprised when Liam almost immediately handed it to him.

“For what? Please don’t text Louis.” Liam struggled to sit up fast enough, as if he really thought the younger man would have done that. 

“I’m turning it off.” The younger man announced while he did exactly that, and then, just because he didn’t know where else to put it, he put it in his closet before closing the doors. “You can have it back tomorrow morning. Now lie down with me.”

“I’ve been lying down this whole time waiting for you.” He laughed, not commenting the phone thing anymore and maybe he even looked slightly relieved. Either way, he wasn’t complaining about it, so that was everything that mattered to Niall. Plus, he wouldn’t need it for what they were about to do anyways. 

Niall didn’t even wait until Liam had fully lied down to kiss him, so the older man was just moving on top of him instead, immediately easing into it as well, his hand ending up underneath Niall’s clothes so quickly that the younger man wondered why he had bothered getting dressed at all. It wasn’t that late actually, May had fallen asleep rather quickly, so they had lots of time to do whatever they wanted, and it was also the end of the week and overall… everything would have been perfect right now had Niall not desperately been trying to make Liam feel better and distract him.

He did let Liam take his shirt off though, enjoying the older’s kisses for a while while clinging onto him, but he did decide to stop him then.

“What’s wrong?” Liam was out of breath when Niall turned his head a little bit, still playing with the older’s hair. 

“Nothing… want me to blow you?” Niall offered, not only because he thought it’d distract Liam most, but also because he kinda wanted to. Lately they had had a lot more time to do things like that together, so Niall had gotten fully comfortable with anything at all. Well, not _everything_ of course, but there were maybe things not everyone needed to try. 

“I’m not that upset.” The older man joked after a second, but there was a sparkling in his eyes and Niall had already felt him hardening against him for a while. 

“It has nothing to do with that.” He lied, a little bit, before softly pushing against Liam’s shoulder so that he would move off of him and lie down instead and the older man complied immediately. “So I assume that’s a yes?”

“I mean… I won’t stop you.” Liam laughed when Niall rolled his eyes, leaning down to connect their lips again, slipping his tongue back into Liam’s mouth because they weren’t really in any rush here. At least Niall wasn’t.

Liam was still fully clothed, but Niall didn’t bother with his shirt today, he just snogged Liam for a bit longer before slowly moving down to his boxer shorts, hearing the older man suck in a breath above him when he placed a kiss on his still covered erection. Was it stupid that Niall couldn’t help but think about how familiar this was by now? Maybe, but Liam couldn’t read his thoughts anyways, and he probably also didn’t really care right now.

Niall liked to tease for a bit, until the older man started whining and his fingers were cramping a bit in Niall’s hair, so the younger man took pity on him, pulling his boxer shorts down with one swift movement, dropping them somewhere on the bed next to them. 

He watched Liam’s face as he wrapped a hand around him, slowly jerking him off for now, but it was already enough for Liam to press his eyes closed, clearly trying to hold back. It never failed to amaze Niall how quickly he could push the older man to the edge, but it also kinda made him feel a bit proud, because in the beginning he had been slightly worried about his lack of experience. Didn’t seem like that mattered in any way.

“Niall… can you… “ Liam started, not continuing though because the younger man knew what he wanted anyways. Plus, he could tell Liam was already close just by listening to his slightly panicked breathing.

So he took pity on him, since he had offered after all, leaning down to lick across the head of the older’s swollen erection, still jerking him off as he took him in his mouth, making sure not to go too far down. He had made that mistake, and he would never truly live down that memory.

“Fuck… “ The fingers in Niall’s hair were tightening, pulling just a bit, the tiny pain feeling kinda good though. 

Niall didn’t want it to end too soon though, so he only slowly bobbed his head up and down Liam’s erection, pulling off once a while just to spread his own saliva and watch the older’s face. He looked so fucking good like this, all flushed, biting his lip, his hair all messed up from the shower and as much as Niall wanted to do literally everything with Liam right now, as much could he also not stop himself from thinking about how soft Liam looked. With his sleep shirt and everything and fuck, Niall was so in love with him, it shouldn’t have even been possible.

When Niall leaned down again to take Liam’s dick back into his mouth, listening to the older man’s quiet and choked back moans, he moved one hand to cup his balls, knowing well enough that that would send him over the edge. For a second Niall was a bit afraid Liam had been too loud as he came down his throat, but he was more busy working him through his orgasm, trying not to gag as he swallowed. 

“Shit… “ Liam let out a shaky breath as he had come down from it, wiping a hand across his sweaty forehead when Niall moved back up to peck his lips. “Sorry for not warning you.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind swallowing. Just a bit.” Niall added with a smirk, brushing some hair out of Liam’s forehead. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Much. But I wasn’t feeling that bad to begin with.” He sounded as if he meant it, so Niall let him manhandle him when Liam rolled them over again, clearly wanting to be on top now. 

They kissed for a bit longer without doing anything else, except Niall pushing Liam’s shirt up so high that there was no point in him even having it still on. Niall didn’t really feel like breaking the kiss just to take it off though, so he didn’t do anything about, just kept holding onto Liam while snogging him. Pretty sure no one in this world was having better make out sessions than them.

“What do you want me to do?” Liam half whispered against Niall’s lips when they caught their breath for a bit, and Niall kept his eyes closed, feeling the older’s nose brushing against his. 

“Hmm… I don’t know.” He mumbled back, not really minding his kinda tight sweatpants right now because this was also really nice.

“If you give me a few minutes… “ The older man started and Niall felt himself smiling when he pulled his boyfriend back down to connect their lips again. 

There was no real need for Niall to answer, because actually he wanted nothing else right now other than to be as close to Liam as humanly possibly. Also if the older man wanted to, which he clearly did, then obviously it made Niall even more inclined to as well. It wasn’t urged though, and Liam’s edge had already been taken off, so they took their time with it.

Niall had stored lube in the bedside table drawer, but behind some books because he didn’t want MAY finding it ever and having to explain or lie, so it was always quite a challenge for either of them to get it out when they were a bit desperate. So tonight it was Liam who was cursing while Niall just laughed watching him, at least having gotten rid of his shirt by now.

“Do you want me to do it?” He offered, half laughing while rubbing his hand up and down Liam’s bare side, the older man still half on top of him as he struggled with the drawer.

“No, it’s like- it’s keeping the drawer closed because it’s stuck.” That only made Niall laugh even more, because of how serious Liam was explaining it all, as if it was some technical mystery. “I think I’m gonna accidentally open it and get it over everything in there if I- Ni, stop laughing, it’s not funny.”

“It is though, you should see your concentrated face right now.” To be fair though, it was quite a stupid struggle, and each time Niall told himself to find another solution, but then he never did. “At least we stopped using condoms so you won’t also have to get those.”

“I’d probably have to go and find those somewhere in the apartment first because you’d keep changing the hiding spots.” Liam sounded slightly annoyed, slightly amused, and Niall just kept laughing. 

“I’d draw you a map. Like, a treasure map, that’d be fun.” Niall joked, petting Liam’s side though because he didn’t want to piss him off completely. 

“It’s really not funny at a- ha, I got it.” And he had also almost broken the drawer in the process, but he looked so proud of himself that Niall didn’t say anything. “We’re not putting that back in there, that was the last time.”

“Find a better spot then that isn’t underneath your pillow.” Because he had suggested that, also between the bed and the mattress and other places, and Niall had said no to all of it. 

“We can talk about that later.” The older man quickly decided after a moment of hesitation and Niall let out a laugh when he heard his impatience.

“But your will to get it out and your strength have really turned me on.” Niall was lying of course, but it was enough for Liam to stop for just a second before he rolled his eyes as he realized it had been a joke, drowning Niall’s laughter in another kiss that he deepened rather quickly.

Niall very quickly forgot about his amusement the moment Liam had his tongue back in his mouth and his hand pushed back in between them, cupping Niall over his sweatpants while they were snogging. He somewhat took his time once he placed hot, open mouthed kisses down the younger’s neck and chest but Niall knew he was already ready for another round. Not that he was complaining.

Liam prepping him didn’t hurt anymore, not like it had in the very beginning, it was slightly uncomfortable at most, but only for a few seconds and the following pleasure was making it way worth it anyways. They had talked about switching, but honestly, Niall didn’t mind and also, he kinda didn’t even want to. Not for any other reason though than the fact that he freaking loved having Liam filling up although the older man had joked he just didn’t wanna do any of the work. Maybe.

“Are you okay?” Liam half whispered, pressing their foreheads together after he had fingered Niall open, so thoroughly that the younger man had been forced to stop him and tell him to get on with it if he didn’t want this to end right now. 

“Yeah… more than okay.” Niall told him, stretching his neck a bit so they could kiss as Liam slowly pressed inside of him, still as carefully as the very first time. And Niall tried not to be the impatient one now, because he knew Liam simply cared about him and was terrified of hurting him. Not that he had ever even come close. “I love you…”

“I love you too.” He sounded a bit surprised, a bit taken off guard when Niall just said it as they pulled apart for a moment when the older man finally bottomed out. There was a smile spreading on his face though that caused Niall’s stomach to grow warm, both of them just looking at each other for a moment as Niall brushed his fingers over the older’s cheek. 

“You can move, you know.” Niall blurted out after a moment and Liam let out a breathless laugh as he duck down to kiss Niall some more, barely moving his hips and the younger man helped for a bit, but then he got too lazy and too distracted by the way Liam felt inside of him. 

They had figured this all out perfectly by now somehow, Liam knew exactly how to push Niall over the edge, as easily as the other way around, and he found the perfect angle almost immediately, forcing Niall to swallow his moans whenever he pierced his prostate. The fact that May’s room was almost right across the hallway proved itself to be a problem over and over again, but so far, they had never woken her. Or she had just never said anything.

“Fuck, babe… j-just… like that… “ Niall was already so damn close, and he didn’t want this to end but he had no choice in the matter, Liam just felt too good inside of him.

They were both just breathing heavily against one another when Liam messily jerked Niall off in between his thrusts, unexpectedly pushing the younger man over the edge, a slightly too load moan escaping him as Liam worked him through it, following close behind and filling Niall up. That was another thing Niall would have never used a condom with Liam again, he just really liked the thought of that somehow, like, it was just so fucking hot for some reason. 

The younger’s head was spinning a bit as he slowly came down from it, Liam suddenly feeling even heavier on top of him as they both struggled to catch their breath. There was a smile on Liam’s lips though when he caught Niall’s eye, suddenly starting to cover his face in shivery kisses and though Niall’s lunges were still screaming for air, he couldn’t hold back a giggle.

Well, and then their blissful post sex moment got ruined very quickly.

“… Daddy?” Fuck.

Thank fucking god May hadn’t walked in, the door was still closed and her voice muffled through it, but it still caused them both to panic immediately. Somehow though, Liam was thinking a lot quicker than Niall. 

It was slightly uncomfortable, to have him pulling out of Niall so quickly, but they didn’t really have much of a choice here, and Liam was already up and out of bed, putting on the younger’s sweatpants while Niall was still busy covering himself with the blanket. “I’ll go.”

“But-“

“Pretend to be asleep.” Liam whispered before literally just plunging them into darkness before Niall had a chance to react. Right, he couldn’t have really gone anyways, seeing as… well, seeing as Liam had just come inside of him and Niall could very much feel the residue of that, to put it simple. So he did what Liam had suggested, he pretended to be asleep while the older man went to open the door. “What’s wrong, love?”

“I heard something weird and it woke me up… “ Great. 

“I was watching something on my phone, I forgot to turn down the sound, I almost woke your dad as well, I’m sorry.” Liam lied smoothly, his voice becoming less audible as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself. “C’mon, let’s get you back to bed.”

So Niall was just lying there in darkness, waiting for Liam to come back and get over his embarrassment. There was no need to be embarrassed at all actually, seeing as May didn’t know what had happened anyways, but still. He just needed to learn how to shut his mouth or something. 

It didn’t take too long for Liam to come back, he almost fell over his own feet or at least it sounded like that, and then he also almost got his elbow in Niall’s stomach because he decided to climb over him instead. “Ooops, sorry. So that was interesting.”

“What happened? Is she back asleep?” Niall really hoped so, blindly reaching over to the bedside table to turn on the lights again because he definitely wasn’t ready to go to sleep. “What are you doing?”

“Um, I don’t wanna sleep in these.” Liam was again undressing himself completely and Niall didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or not. When the older man half threw the blanket back though so he could get underneath as well and pull Niall into his arms, he decided not to. “So… she’s back asleep. I hope. But also… “

“Oh my god, she knows what we were doing, doesn’t she?” Judging by the look on Liam’s face, now Niall had every reason to be embarrassed again. 

“Not really. She bought my lie, but… I brought her back to bed, and then she was like… well, she said at first she thought we were making love but then-“

“She said that?! How does she even know? She’s seven.” Did they learn that in school at that age?! Niall had no clue and he suddenly felt really dumb and a little stressed out. 

“She did say that, but then she also said it sounded like someone got hurt so that’s why she decided to come over. She said she knows not to just walk into your room and that one of her friends had walked in on their parents… doing it.” Liam finished, clearing his throat a little and Niall could just TELL that he was about to break out into laughter. “Anyways-“

“Fuck. Was I supposed to have the talk with her months ago?” Now Niall was really questioning himself, but also… what a way to ruin the mood. 

“Seems like you won’t have to. But it doesn’t mean she knows what we were doing, maybe she has a completely different understanding of it.” The older man argued, brushing his fingers through Niall’s hair while the younger man just sighed, feeling a little stressed. “Niall, it’s no big deal.”

“I know, but also… it’s so unexpected. I don’t wanna do this, she’s so innocent.” Also… as much as Niall thought about the future, he had literally never really thought about how to do this in detail.

“Should I do it with you?” Liam offered, seemingly unbothered and just for a second, Niall considered taking him up on it and forgetting about it.

“I think I have to do it… but you could be there. For emotional support.” And then just do all the talking for Niall.

“I will. Just warn me ahead of time, please.” The older man joked, seemingly not thinking that the mood had gotten ruined in any way because he leaned down to kiss Niall, so the younger man let him, trying to forget what had happened. 

At least Niall had achieved his main goal tonight, namely distracting Liam from that stupid song, so that was something.

 

\--------------------

 

When Liam woke up in the morning, Niall’s alarm hadn’t even gone off and he almost panicked thinking they had overslept, but reaching across the younger man to reach his phone told Liam differently. His own phone was still in the closet, though he wasn’t really thinking about that right now anyways. It was just a song, nothing else, Liam would be fine. Hopefully.

He just lied in bed for a while, watching his boyfriend sleep and resisting the urge to touch him too much because he didn’t want to disturb him. They had gone to sleep rather late in the end, after a literal second round, or third for Liam, and Niall looked exhausted, even while asleep. So that’s why Liam made sure to turn off the alarms before they’d go off.

Since he knew Niall’s work schedule, he also knew the younger man didn’t have to be at work until later, so he forced himself to get out of bed after carefully placing a kiss on Niall’s cheek, making sure the blanket was wrapped around him when he left to get dressed. After a moment of hesitation, Liam left his phone in the closet, telling himself he was just making excuses as to why he needed it right now when he really didn’t.

Liam knew Niall’s and May’s morning schedule by heart seeing as he was kinda part of it as well, so it was no problem for him to just do it without Niall while letting the younger man sleep in. Usually he didn’t do that, but usually Niall’s also woke up by himself after a while, or he had to actually go to work or be somewhere, so Liam used the chance.

May was always a little hard to wake up, but at least she insisted on picking out her own outfit when she was finally up, so Liam didn’t have to worry about that. Instead he had to worry about other things.

“… you’re doing it wrong.” May had very specific ideas when it came to her hair, and Liam sucked at making them reality so she told him straight to his face in the mirror, around her tooth brush. “It’s not supposed to be like that.”

“Okay, I… I’ll start over.” Liam gave in, suppressing a sigh and thinking that maybe he had underestimated the difficulty of this a bit. “Keep brushing.”

“My daddy is a lot better at this.” The little girl told him before brushing her teeth again, for maybe 2 seconds. “Maybe you should have watched that Youtube tutorial I showed you.”

“I did.” He truly had, but a tutorial about braiding hair wasn’t magically gonna enable Liam to be able to actually do it in real life. “And your dad had a lot more practice than me… is this better?”

“Kinda.” May shrugged a bit, seemingly very unsure about this whole hair style Liam had just literally made up. “Maybe we should wake my daddy so he can fix it.”

“Or I could just start again and we leave your dad sleeping because he’s really tired.” At least that’s what Liam thought, he didn’t actually know, but seeing as Niall still hadn’t woken up by himself and it had been around half an hour since Liam had gone to wake May, he seemed to truly be exhausted. 

“I’m tired as well.” May threw in, but at least she continued brushing her teeth then while Liam started all over again with her hair. “Are you gonna bring me to school today?”

“Maybe… I don’t know if I can, people would possibly see me.” Even worse, KIDS would see him, but then again… no one would expect him to do this, and he wouldn’t have to get out of the car. He had gone with Niall once to pick May up, so he knew where the school was and where to drop May off so he could watch her walking inside. He’d definitely have to wake Niall and tell him either way though. “Okay, look, how’s that?”

This time, May turned a bit to look at herself in the mirror, and Liam’s proud face quickly became neutral again when all she did this time was shrug. She was clearly getting harder to impress as she got older, and Liam hadn’t even known her for that long. Maybe it had also been due to the fact that he was who he was, and May had stopped viewing him as a celebrity but rather as her dad’s boyfriend. At least that’s what Niall said. “Can I have cereal for breakfast?”

“How about, _thank you so much for doing my hair three times, Liam, could I please have cereal for breakfast_?” Liam joked, almost ruffling May’s hair when she rolled her eyes, but stopping himself last second. God, he really didn’t wanna do this a FOURTH time.

“Thank you. Can I please have cereal?” May tried and Liam petted her head instead, carefully as to not ruin his own work.

“Alright. But you gotta have something else too, okay?” At least Liam was a lot better at the nutritional stuff than with hair. “And don’t forget to get a jumper from your room.”

“It’s not cold.” She complained as Liam was already walking out of the bathroom.

“It is. You’ve not even been outside yet.” He gave back and there was a sigh, but at least it sounded as if she’d actually do what he had told her.

Liam didn’t mind any of this at all, in fact, he might have been enjoying it a bit too much. Like, living a semi-normal life with Niall and May, it had taken a bit to get used to, but never in a negative way at all. It had more shown Liam what had somehow been missing in his own life, even with everything he had, but it was like… he had lost his focus somehow, of what really mattered. And though he had never thought he’d have kids this early, ever since the other two had come into his life and he and Niall were working out so well… Liam couldn’t help but sometimes fantasize about the future.

He didn’t go to wake Niall just yet but instead made May’s school lunch, and then her breakfast before she came into the kitchen, with her school bag and a jumper, thankfully. Liam kinda debated whether he’d have to wake the younger man or not, like, he could have also left a note, but then again… maybe Niall didn’t want him to take May to school, and Liam wouldn’t just do it without asking him, she was Niall’s daughter after all.

“Are you gonna go with us for Halloween?” May suddenly asked while licking some milk from her hand and Liam was watching her eat, trying not to intervene although that glass of orange juice had a 50% chance of being dropped. 

“I don’t know… um, people might see me and-“

“No, they won’t. It’s dark AND you’re wearing a costume.” Well… she did have a point. “Or if people ask then you could just say you’re dressed up as yourself and pretend to be somebody else. It’d be funny.”

“Maybe I should do that.” It made Liam laugh, because she had sounded so serious, but also… it honestly sounded like a good idea in his head for some reason. He probably wouldn’t even be here for Halloween though, so he quickly made sure to switch the topic. “What are you dressing up as?”

“I don’t know yet, my granny sometimes makes a costume for me, but I don’t know if she will this year. But my friend is having a Halloween party so it has to be really good.” She explained, getting more milk all over her face as she continued eating her cereal. Liam had knowingly already stored away the box, because he knew from experience that she would have eaten all of it had he let her. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course.” Liam answered automatically, deciding to get himself some tea after all. 

“One of my friends is turning 7 soon… and remember when you wrote me something for Christmas last year? She’s really jealous of me because I know you… do you think you could write her happy birthday in the card I’m giving to her?” The way May was dragging it out made it seem as if it’d be a huge burden for Liam to do that, so he suspected that maybe May had asked Niall first, who had then either told her not to ask Liam or to be really nice about it.

“Of course I can do that. When is her birthday?” Liam didn’t mind at all, he refrained from offering to do something else for her though, because he didn’t want it to escalate.

So they talked about May’s friend for a bit, and then about other things and eventually, Liam was forced to go and wake Niall, even though looking at him deeply asleep with the blanket pull tightly around him, he really didn’t want to.

“Hey… “ Liam whispered against the younger’s skin after kissing his forehead, sitting on the mattress next to him, playing with his hair for a bit.

“Hmmm?” Was all Niall made, moving just a bit, and it took some more kisses before he finally blinked his eyes open, still looking more than exhausted though. “Good morning… how late is it…? Why are you dressed already?”

“It’s kinda late, I let you sleep, but don’t worry, I got May ready and she’s finishing breakfast right now.” Liam quickly explained so the younger man wouldn’t panic, so he just looked confused for a moment, and then surprised. “I thought you could really use the sleep and I know you only start work later.”

“I do… thank you.” Niall told him, sounding very genuine right before he yawned. “I’ll get up in a second… “

“You don’t have to. I can drive May… if you’re okay with that.” Liam quickly added, because he didn’t wanna just assume, but the younger man looked more than happy about the offer anyways.

“I’d be more than okay with it... Do you know how to get there? And what if someone sees you?” Valid worries, but they also didn’t seem to feel too real for Niall because he very quickly let himself be convinced.

“I know how to get there, yeah, and I just won’t get out of the car, I’ll just watch from the car until she’s inside the building.” It was only a few meters after all.

“You don’t have to, she’s big enough for that… thank you though, really. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” Niall joked, reaching out for Liam’s hand though, a soft smile on his face as he squeezed it a bit. “Seriously though… “

“I really don’t mind it.” Liam told him honestly before leaning down to kiss Niall on the lips. “I love you… “

“I love you too, Li… “ The younger man whispered back, having to interrupt the kiss for another yawn though.

He did eventually get up though, just to say goodbye to May, and Liam and her threw a look at each other when Niall asked her whether she had done her own hair today because it looked a bit messy, but that he was proud of her for trying. Liam really appreciated that May chose to stay quiet about that one. 

Niall told Liam to use his car to draw less attention, and he had no trouble finding May’s school, slightly more convincing her to actually get out though and walk inside because she had so much to tell him about. Liam did stay to watch her go inside, but luckily she immediately saw one of her friends so he felt a lot better about it. It’s not like she was doing this for the first time after all, she’d be just fine.

When Liam drove back to Niall’s, he somehow couldn’t even believe anymore that he had been upset about that song yesterday, or that yesterday had even happened at all. There were so much more important things in life and he couldn’t have thought of any other way he would have rather started this day.

Liam’s good mood faltered a little bit when he got back though, walking into the kitchen because Niall was talking to someone on the phone there though the older man only really heard the end of it. 

“… she’s _my_ daughter and- yeah, then hang up, whatever. Bye.” He clearly said the last word after the other person had already ended the call, looking more than stressed out when he saw Liam.

“Hi… everything okay? Who was that?” The older man asked, not even daring to fully enter the kitchen as a bit of panic rose inside him when Niall sighed, leaning against the counter and sounding a bit defeated.

“May’s grandfather.” The younger man answered, quickly continuing when he noticed Liam’s confusion. “Not my dad, from her mother’s side.”

“Oh. Right… what did he want?” Somehow Liam had a bad feeling about this, and it only grew when Niall just looked at him. “I thought they refuse to communicate with you unless it’s via text message.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” Niall let out a humorless laugh, rubbing his hands across his face before folding his arms in front of his chest, not looking at Liam though when he answered. A bad sign. “But they decided to make an exception for letting me know they consider fighting me over guardianship. Again.”

“They- _what?!_ Literally for what reason?” Right this was not at ALL what Liam had expected.

The younger man didn’t answer immediately, he was rather chewing his lip, obviously having to actually convince himself to look up and at Liam, his face getting more sad than frustrated, as if he thought it would actually hurt Liam or something. So then the older man should have already known, even before Niall said it out loud. “For having May’s face and her name all over the internet and in gossip magazines. And… because I’m dating you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :)
> 
> thank you so much for all of your nice words after the last chapter <3 i really really hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, it is definitely now going into the direction ive been planning on for a while i just felt like i needed to establish nialls and liams relationship a bit more, and everything involving liams job etc. so yeah! i definitely enjoyed writing this chapter a lot and i really hope you guys liked reading it and id love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> (also a disclaimer, i have NO idea about legal things, but i will definitely google and try to inform myself a bit more before getting more into this story line, but if theres anything off or so... thats the reason haha)
> 
> i hope you will all have a nice week thank you for sticking around!! <3


	20. Chapter 20

“But- How? I mean, is that even possible?“ Liam’s head was kinda spinning a bit upon hearing this, he’d definitely need a few seconds to process this, like… what?! 

“Apparently it is. They tried to do it right after May’s mom passed away, but I was really young back then and basically had nothing, so I never thought- I never thought that would ever be an issue again, I- fuck. I should’ve known they’d find out, I mean, obviously I _knew_ , I just didn’t… I didn’t think they’d go that far.” Niall was rubbing his hands over his face again, clearly frustrated but not freaking out and Liam felt quite useless just standing there, staring. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know if he was being serious or if he was just trying to threaten me or- but either way I can’t just ignore it… fuck, Liam, what if they actually take legal actions and it goes through?!”

“It won’t. It can’t, I- isn’t Harry working at a law firm? And you are as well? Maybe you should call him and he’d be able to help.” Because Liam wasn’t any help, at ALL, he still didn’t even really know if any of this was real or if he had hit his head on the way home or something, because… how could this be happening?

“Maybe, I don’t know, fuck. Harry is still finishing his Master’s degree, he’s not fully done yet, so he won’t be able to help and- and I can’t afford a good lawyer and-“

“I can. I’ve got a lawyer, if it really comes down to it, okay? You won’t have to worry about that, at all.” Liam could tell that the younger man wanted to protest, but he didn’t this time, because it was kinda necessary. 

“Thank you… I hope it won’t be necessary. I just… I don’t know what to do now.” He sounded and looked helpless when he finally looked at Liam again and the older man quickly walked over, wrapping Niall up in his arms. His body was tense for a moment before he let himself fall into Liam, hugging him back loosely. 

“What did he say exactly? I mean, what all did they see?” Because like… there was quite a variety now, so… 

“I think they’ve seen everything. They definitely know I let May fly to New York with you by herself, and that we’re together, and they’ve seen pictures of us, and her, and… Li, I really don’t think it could get any worse.” It could have gotten WAY worse, but Liam didn’t say that of course, because he was trying to calm Niall, rubbing his back slowly.

“Okay, they don’t like that we’re together, but they can’t sue you over that. You’ve got stable jobs, you can pay for everything May needs, she’s doing great at school, she’s happy. And me and you dating hasn’t influenced any of that, even though there are pictures of her and her name is out there, it’s not put her in any danger, or you. And it’s not like you’re not allowed to let people babysit her, right?” To be fair, the New York thing maybe looked a little bad on the outside, but it couldn’t be illegal, right? Like… 

“I don’t think it’s about any of that, he was talking more about long term consequences. And like… I’m worried some lawyer is gonna think the same. That like, it’d be in May’s best interest to not grow up in the public eye. And it doesn’t even mean they’d get full guardianship or something, but… like in those reality show, and then we have shared custody and I only get her on the weekend and-“

“Ni, you’re her dad, and they don’t even see her that often, do they? I mean, when do they really show that much interest in having her? They’re just pissed off for some reason and trying to scare you.” … but what if they weren’t? What if they were being serious?

“I don’t fucking know. Shit. I should’ve known this would happen, but I didn’t, it’s my fault. I just brushed these pictures off and now it’s all blowing up in my face. If we hadn’t gone to New York, or if she had been with me at least… not saying I regret it, but… if that was the reason for them to decide to take legal action and they actually go through with it, I’d never forgive myself. Li, I can’t lose her.” On the last sentence, his voice kinda broke and Liam held on tighter, feeling his heart aching and his body filling with panic.

Niall didn’t want to lose May, obviously, and Liam didn’t want to lose both of them at once. Except… if Niall was given an ultimatum, either Liam or May, he’d have to choose her of course and Liam hated himself for thinking about himself in this situation, but it really scared him. It wasn’t about him, but somehow it was about all 3 of them at once. 

“You won’t lose her, Nialler, you’re her dad, okay? I will call my lawyer and then we can discuss it with him, yeah? Just to be on the safe side, and if they then do anything, not saying they will, but then we’ll already be prepared. And until then we’ll make sure no new pictures come out, or anything else, and then I don’t think they can do anything, even if they want to. I’m sure they were just trying to threaten you.” Then again, Liam didn’t know these people, and he didn’t know what would happen and actually, it was stupid of him to tell Niall these things, when he was so clueless himself. Fuck.

Niall didn’t answer, he just kept holding onto Liam, a lot tighter now, clinging to him, and the older man didn’t even know if he was crying, but he himself felt pretty damn close to bursting out into tears right now. So much for having a great day.

 

\-----------------------

 

“You’re really distracted today. Is it because of what Harry told me before? The thing with May’s-“

“I really don’t wanna talk about that.” Niall quickly interrupted Louis, trying to actually focus on the people who were paying them for their time. Or at least pretending to. 

“They really wanna take her from you because of Liam?” Louis ignored his request, and Niall sighed, kinda wanting to just walk out. He was still waiting to hear back from Liam, or his lawyer more like, and he honestly didn’t even know how he had managed to drag himself to Louis’ studio when all this had only happened a few hours ago.

He should’ve known Louis would know the minute Harry did, but Niall just HAD had to call him, because Liam hadn’t been a big help. Which wasn’t his fault of course, Niall had no clue about legal shit either, but at least the older man had been there to give him cuddles and emotional support. Not that that had helped.

“It’s not because of _him_ , it’s because they say they think it will have a negative impact on her to be in the public eye and that they think I’m being careless and neglecting her just because I wanna re-live my teens or something. So basically, they want her because apparently I’m unfit to take care of her and also too young.” That was the core message of it all, and now Niall was done talking to Louis about it.

Or so he thought.

“Shit, that’s bad… I mean, they’re not wrong about her being in the public e-“

“Okay, can you not make it worse?” Seriously?!

“I’m just saying, I’d prepare myself if I were you, I’m sure Liam kept telling you it will be fine and I know Harry doesn’t think they can do anything either, so I feel like someone should say it. It could also go really wrong.” Great. But at least someone who was taking this as serious as Niall, so he couldn’t even be mad. “It does look quite bad from the outside. The whole situation, I mean.”

“What, uh, what does it look like?” Did Niall even wanna know?

“Well… “ Louis started before leaning forward, putting on the mic to tell the guys recording to start all over again, probably so he’d have more time before looking straight at Niall and the younger man swallowed, now more scared than annoyed. “You’re quite young to have a 7-year-old, first of all. And they already tried to take her from you after their daughter died, who you got pregnant, because of a one night stand. So then you dropped out of uni and are now juggling 4 jobs while raising her, and I’m not at all saying that’s bad or anything, and they obviously didn’t think so either until now. But like… it doesn’t give you the most solid base or argument. And then her whole obsession with Liam was already something they didn’t like, and I know that you had troubles with other parents because they said it’s inappropriate for her. And now you’re dating him. And her name is out there, and her face. And you let her go to another continent with him and his parents, who you didn’t even know. I just… it doesn’t look that great, is all. I’m just saying this because I have a different perspective on it, because I write articles about stuff like that and I know how to word it to make it look absolute shit for the person involved, even if maybe the reality is completely different.”

“So basically… you’re saying I look like a careless idiot who got some chick pregnant when he was a teen, had to drop out of uni and can’t get a good paying job to feed his daughter. And to make matters worse, I let her be obsessed with some celebrity way older than her and look at his shirtless pictures, only to now date him myself, probably because I need the money and am desperate and I don’t actually care about May at all, I’m just glad if someone’s taking her off my hands, even if it results in her being on a whole other continent and getting photographed with said celebrity? While I’m at home probably having more one night stands. Is that what you would write?” Fuck.

“Pretty much, yeah.” Louis agreed immediately, only afterwards realizing what he had said. “You’re really pale, do you wanna-“

“What if they start digging up more stuff about me? I don’t have any scandals or whatever, but… I was terrible in school, had the worst grades, I’ve never even had a solid relationship before Liam. I had to live with my parents when May was really little because obviously I couldn’t afford anything, I probably already had 10 different jobs. I only got her a passport to visit Liam on tour, I couldn’t even afford a vacation myself. And there’s probably so much more, like, just small things I didn’t even deem that serious…” All of this could somehow be turned against Niall, he just knew it. And now that Louis had voiced his own worries, Niall was suddenly even more convinced that it would all go wrong. “… what should I do?”

“Get yourself a lawyer, the best one you can find, Liam’s gonna pay him anyway so you won’t have to worry about that. But like… if they really try to take you to court, it could also look kinda bad if all of this becomes public and people find out you got a lawyer the same day of that phone call, like… it makes you look even more guilty. So try to stay as private as possible, don’t go outside with Liam, and if you do make sure that nothing about May goes online anymore, under any circumstances. Tell her not to talk about him anymore, tell her-“

“Louis.” Niall interrupted, because something had just dawned on him and he kinda wanted to die, and his voice sounded a bit as if he was dead already though.

“Oh god, what?” The older man kinda looked terrified also, maybe because well, he had every fucking reason to.

“May almost walked in on us, last night, when we… had sex. And she told Liam she thought we were making love, so she knows what that is. But then she thought one of us got hurt or something, whatever, that’s not the point. What if she goes around, telling her friends about all this, and they tell their parents and it will look like we’re loudly having sex when she is supposed to sleep and if this gets blown out of proportion… “ It would make Niall look even worse. But Louis went a whole step further.

“That wouldn’t be as bad as her talking about one of you getting hurt, because _that_ goes into a whole other direction. If they flip it all around and say Liam is hurting you and you’re letting him sleep under the same roof as your daughter while-“

“Okay, stop. That’s going too far, that won’t happen, right? That’s just worst-case scenario. I’ll tell that lawyer everything and then he’s gonna know what to do.” Niall was now trying to make himself feel better, because Louis was getting even more into this than he was himself. Shit. “… right?”

“I would hope so. But Niall… “ Louis was now biting his lip, clearly hesitating as he looked away from Niall and at these guys killing their instruments behind the glass. “Liam is my best friend, and I know you love him, and he loves you, and I want both of you happy and I know I was, like, a driving force in all this, kind of, but… I also know the other side of things, as dramatic as it sounds, I know how these articles get written and how people get into these huge scandals and whatnot, how it can destroy someone’s life. I don’t think you should take that threat lightly at all, and even if… even if it means you can’t see Liam that often anymore or whatever… you’d never forgive yourself, if you lost May because of him. And you’d also never forgive him. So I’d take every measure necessary before that happens.”

“Are you… are you saying I should break up with him?” Okay, that was going a little far right now.

“No. I’m just saying you should probably consider that you might have to make decisions if all this escalates, and you should prepare yourself for them, mentally and emotionally and that stuff. If they say either break up with him or lose your daughter… I mean, that’s not a choice, is it?” He was right, and Niall didn’t know what to say, because… he really hadn’t thought Louis would be the one to give him a reality check today. “Just… make sure you know how this could end.”

“I should’ve probably done that a lot sooner… “ Niall mumbled, not even quite sure how he meant it, he just knew Louis was right and he was terrified now.

“Look, maybe I’m just being slightly dramatic, I’m sure in the end we can just forget we even had this conversation.” Louis was trying to take it back now, but it was way too late for that.

“And what if we can’t? What if everything you said comes true?” Yeah, _what if_ Niall would have actually used his brain once the past few months? He had no regrets regarding Liam, he loved him with all his heart and he’d do everything to make this work, but at the same time he was terrified about making a mistake. A mistake that could cost him his own daughter. 

The older man didn’t answer immediately, he actually looked away from Niall again after blinking a few times, seemingly not knowing what the heck to say anymore. “Then that’s the way it is and at least you got to prepare yourself.”

“Great. Thanks.” Then again, Louis WAS the only one who took this as serious as Niall, maybe even more than him, Niall just didn’t even know anymore if he preferred the truth or the watered down version Harry had told him. Or the comforting words Liam had made up in an attempt to save the day. 

“I’m sorry.” Louis sounded genuine, and Niall sighed, shrugging a bit because in the end, neither of them could have solved this right now. There was nothing to do, except talk to that lawyer and keep out of the public eye as much as possible. Or at least keep May away from it all. “I’ll always let you work here.”

“Thanks… “ Really though, even if Niall wasn’t actually quite sure whether it wouldn’t hurt him even more in all this, to literally be working for Liam’s best friend, who actually had a bit of influence regarding a few important papers bringing out articles. Not that there was any reason to worry about that as well now because clearly Niall had much bigger problems at hand. 

 

\--------------------------

 

“Where are we going?” May asked from the back seat when she noticed they weren’t going home after Niall had picked her up from school and the man gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter, forcing himself to be as normal as somehow possible. For her sake.

“It’s a surprise.” He told her, because it was, he just wasn’t sure if he was executing it that well because the girl sounded kinda scared after hesitating for a second.

“… are we going to the dentist?” She sounded so serious that Niall couldn’t help but let out a quick laugh, his stomach loosening a little bit. 

“No, we aren’t, I promise. It’s a surprise you’re actually going to like.” Just so she knew she had no reason to be afraid. Niall would have already told her if she had had to go to the dentist way beforehand because it never ended well. “How was it this morning, when Liam took you to school?”

“It was so much fun, is he gonna take me to school more often?” May sounded excited and Niall suppressed a sigh, telling himself to keep it together. He still hadn’t heard back from Liam, which wasn’t a reason to panic of course because his lawyer obviously wasn’t just alive to be there for him and Liam had to actually work as well and do promo, but still. 

“Maybe.” Was all Niall said to that, clearing his throat a bit. “Did anyone, um- do you think anyone saw him?”

“No, I don’t think so. He stayed in the car when I walked into school with my friend.” May shrugged, hopefully not wondering why Niall even cared. “… can I tell you a secret?”

“I- yes, of course.” Right, this was Niall’s turn again to feel sick once more. Just for it all to turn out unnecessary.

“I didn’t do my hair this morning, Liam did it, that’s why it looked so messy. And I had to take out the braids at school… you’re much better at this. But don’t tell Liam, okay? I think he would be sad because he said he watched that tutorial I showed him.” May was talking quietly, as if Liam was in the car with them or something, and Niall’s throat felt really tight when he answered.

“I won’t say a word, promise… I’m sure he’s going to get better at it.” _If he gets the chance_ , Niall thought out of nowhere, and it kinda made him wanna cry before he got it back together, instead turning on the radio for May, and like a wink from the universe, Liam’s new song filled the car. 

Was Niall losing his mind or something?

He took May to get ice cream, from the place they usually only went to when there was something to celebrate, or when he unexpectedly had more money left at the end of the month than he had anticipated. May was overjoyed of course, though she did mention she wished Liam was here with them as well because he had never tasted the ice cream from here, but then followed it up by saying she was kinda happy it was just her and Niall because they didn’t do that so often anymore. Obviously that made Niall happy, but it also reminded him of why they were actually here, why he needed her in a good mood.

“-nd my friend said no one should wear scary costumes to her party, but it’s Halloween.” May finished her story after a good 10 minutes because she had had to take so many breaks to eat her ice cream and Niall had needed the time anyways to sort out his thoughts. It hadn’t worked. At all. 

“We’ll see about that, okay? I’ll talk to her mom.” Niall promised his daughter kinda absently, watching her chocolate covered face for a moment but resisting the urge to reach over and clean it because she wasn’t done eating yet. “I wanted to, uh, talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” The little girl said, clearly not paying a lot of attention because she was more busy trying to break her wafer into pieces with her plastic spoon.

“You know how… you know how me and Liam said it’s okay for you to tell people that you know him if they ask, like your friends and stuff? And that everyone can know about, like, me and him and all that?” Niall started it off bad, but it was too late.

“Yes?” Now May was clearly confused, though she was still more busy with her ice cream.

“And… do you also remember how I said you shouldn’t talk to your other grandparents about him?” He continued, and now May did look up, but she just nodded. “I need to ask a really important favor of you, May.”

“What favor?” Her face only turned more confused, which was quite understandable because Niall wasn’t even sure what he wanted from her.

“You know… you know there were a few people who didn’t like that you liked Liam, before all this happened, right? And I know I said that you can talk about it now, because Liam tweeted about it and everything, but… I need you to please promise me that you won’t talk about him anymore at school. Or outside of school, to anyone. Except my mom and dad, or Harry and Louis and Zayn. Can you do that?” Judging by the look on her face, she could not.

“Why?” She had stopped eating her ice cream now, sounding distressed and Niall felt quite the same. “All of my friends know, you said it’s okay if I tell them. And they said they saw me in the newspaper and-“

“I know, love. I know that. You did nothing wrong, okay? It’s all good. But from today on, if anybody asks you about him, you tell them you don’t know, or that he’s not coming over anymore to play with you, that neither you or me even really see him that often.” If Niall had told her to say he was forbidding her to talk about him then that would’ve only made things worse. 

“But that’s a lie. I’m not supposed to lie.” May was even more confused now, but Niall could also tell she was starting to get nervous and so was he.

“I know, but this is an exception, okay? I’m giving you the permission to lie.” Which was wrong, but necessary.

“But Liam said he’d write happy birthday in a birthday card for my friend.” Amazing timing.

“He can do that, just… don’t talk about him, okay? Don’t tell anyone he helped you with school stuff or played with you or that he was even with us. And if anyone asks then you’re allowed to lie. Okay? Can you please do that? And promise me?” For a second, Niall was almost afraid that she wouldn’t give him a pinky promise when he put his hand on the table, but then she did, though clearly unwillingly. 

“But why?” She asked and Niall didn’t know what to say, or how to explain. 

“Just because some people don’t really like that we know him, okay? It’s a bit complicated, it’s adult stuff.” He stuck to that, and before she could open her mouth to protest, he quickly carried on. “I also wanted to talk about something else with you… about last night. When you woke up and Liam brought you back to bed?”

“Okay… but I thought you were asleep. Liam said you were.” Right. Shit.

“I was, um, but he told me about it. This morning after bringing you to school.” Niall lied smoothly, clearing his throat a bit, because he had already felt like a terrible father before this so this wasn’t really helping with that. “I just wanted to talk to you about something that you said to Liam… about what you thought we were doing.”

“Oh.” Was all May said, and then she shrugged, wiping her hand over her mouth though it made no difference because the ice cream had already dried on her skin. “I thought somebody got hurt.”

“Okay… “ Niall nodded slowly, waiting for more to come but she didn’t continue so he was forced to ask. “And what did you think before that? Like, before you decided to come over?”

“I thought you were making love.” She shrugged again, seemingly not embarrassed about it at all so not all of Niall’s hope was lost. Yet. 

“Okay. Do you know what that means?” The man questioned, wordlessly pushing the rest of his own ice cream across the table, a little bit as a bribe but also because he honestly hadn’t felt like ice cream anyways. 

“Not really. My friend told me about it… she said she heard her parents at night and then she walked into their room and it was weird.” May explained, seemingly unimpressed by her friend’s encounter because Niall’s ice cream clearly had first priority. “But I wasn’t sure if you and Liam were doing that because you’re both boys and my friend said it has something to do with having a baby and I know boys can’t have babies, so… but then it sounded like someone got hurt but Liam said he was just watching something on his phone.”

“Right, yeah, he was.” Niall confirmed, his face feeling a bit hot because May didn’t really know any details, but she still knew too much for him to just brush it off. “You know… it does have to do something with babies, but it doesn’t have to, so every adult can do it, no matter if they’re with a girl or a boy.”

“Okay. So what is it?” She sounded curious now and Niall wanted to punch himself in the face.

“It’s…. it’s an adult thing. We’ll talk about it when you’re a little bit older, okay? And I’m sure you’re gonna learn about it at school as well.” Or more like, Niall would wait, praying her teacher would answer every question and then he would consult his mother to find out when the right time for this talk actually was. 

“But you and Liam-“

“It’s not really about me and Liam.” Niall interrupted quickly, and he felt like he shouldn’t have been acting this way and be so nervous talking about this with his daughter because it was his responsibility, but it was a little unexpected and he was underprepared and there was more important stuff going on. “I was just asking because I wondered what you thought about it, that’s all. And I wanted to ask you to not go and ask people about it or tell them anything or whatever. Unless you learn about it at school. Okay?”

“Okay… “ May nodded a bit, clearly confused, and Niall wondered if he should have worded it differently, but he couldn’t tell her not to go around telling people about him and Liam making love when she thought Liam had just been watching a movie and… god, this was confusing. “Why are there so many secrets?”

“I’m sorry, love… I promise you’ll understand when you’re a bit older, okay? I know that sounds annoying but sadly that’s just the way it is.” What else was Niall supposed to tell her? And at least she seemed somewhat okay with that because she just sighed before digging into her ice cream again. So there was one last thing. “Why did you think one of us got hurt in the middle of the night?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I wake up and I almost fall out of my bed at night.” Thank god she didn’t also have a friend whose parents hurt each other or their children and told her about it, because then Niall would have truly freaked the hell out. “Why?”

“I was just curious, that’s all.” Niall quickly told her before she thought about it too much and he tried to think of whatever else he should have asked her, or made sure she wouldn’t spread, but there really wasn’t anything else. If she didn’t talk about Liam anymore then that would at least be a start… right? “Do you have a lot of homework today?”

They switched the topic back to school, and more pleasant things to talk about and Niall tried to be as present in the moment as possible, not let his thoughts wander too much because he knew he would have just driven himself crazy if he overthought too much. And really, there was nothing he could do except wait, there were more things he could just NOT do instead, so maybe if he stuck to those and talked to Liam’s lawyer all of this would just pass. 

 

\-------------------

 

Honestly, Liam’s lawyer wasn’t really giving him the security he had been looking for, but he did tell Niall everything that they had discussed, the tips he had given him. Not that serious for now though, because it wasn’t an actual legal case yet or anything, and it could have very well been that May’s grandparents were simply angry and had wanted to threaten Niall. Obviously they weren’t just hoping for that though, and Liam also let the younger man talk to his lawyer on the phone that same day and then moving forward, he let Niall call of the shots, because it was about his daughter of course.

And if that meant they could only see each other at Niall’s place for a bit and Liam needed to have someone drive him there so his car wouldn’t be outside then he would gladly do that. 

“Are you paying any attention to the plot?” Liam asked after a while of them having watched something on TV and not really getting into it. It was Saturday night, two days after that phone call, and May was at Niall’s parents’ house having a sleepover. Whether Niall had done this to keep her away from Liam or whether it had been planned anyways remained a mystery to the older man, but he refrained from asking. 

“Not really… “ Niall mumbled, playing with Liam’s fingers as the older man had his arm loosely wrapped around him, Niall leaning against his chest while half lying down. “Are you?”

“Sometimes.” Liam shrugged a bit, kinda thinking about other stuff, more serious things, but he didn’t wanna bring them up right now. They had talked about this thing with May’s grandparents way too much the past few days already, not having come to any conclusions and they also hadn’t gotten back to Niall, so really… there was nothing left to say. Didn’t mean they weren’t thinking about it though. “You’d think there was something good on on a Saturday night and all… we can switch to Netflix or something.”

“Hmm, no, it’s fine… unless you really want to.” Niall answered after a moment, his words kinda slow, as if he was close to falling asleep, but then he coughed a bit instead, right before sneezing. “Great… “

“Bless you, babe… are you alright? How are you feeling?” It was starting to get colder outside again, so it wouldn’t have been that weird for Niall to have caught something, he had been less energetic all day, but Liam had thought it was because of the thing with May. 

“Fine… just tired. It’s a bit cold at most… maybe we shouldn’t be so close though, I know you got a few important things coming up and I don’t want to-“

“I’ll be fine, stay here.” Liam quickly tightened his arm, making sure to keep Niall close because the very last thing he wanted was to be away from him. He was already afraid of the strain that this whole situation would possibly put on their relationship, which was selfish, but Liam was still thinking about it. It was scary as hell not knowing what was going to happen. “Do you wanna go to bed and lie down?”

“No, let’s stay here for a bit longer, I don’t wanna go to sleep just yet, it’s like… only nine or something.” So they went back to watching the movie, or at least pretending to be watching it, but Niall was still absently playing with Liam’s fingers so the older man knew he hadn’t nodded off just yet. 

They had probably talked to everyone about this situation, also their parents and stuff, and Liam had made sure that no one on his team would like, accidentally say something to someone and then have it end badly or whatever. Even if he wasn’t quite sure how that would even be possible, but he was rather safe than sorry.

The thing was though, there wasn’t really a lot anyways, just these pictures from months back in Vienna, and then May’s birthday and the whole New York thing and Liam confirming it all around two weeks ago. Like, yeah, their names were out there, and their faces, but nothing else had happened, no one had ever come up to Niall in public or at work since all this, and everyone May was talking to about it were her school friends. Or HAD talked about more like. 

Seeing as there wasn’t much though only made it somehow worse because it kinda meant that May’s grandparents had just been waiting for a chance to do this kind of, they had waited for Niall to mess up all these years so they could use it against him. And that was really the scariest part of it all because… what else did they have in store? And how long had they been working on this plan if there was one?

“I think I’ll go to bed now… “ Niall had lasted another half an hour or so when he slowly sat up and Liam let his arm slip, instead rubbing the younger’s back for a bit when he coughed again. “I think I might really be getting sick… perfect timing.”

“You can rest all day tomorrow, maybe it’s just a bit of a cold and it’ll all be gone by Monday. I can make you some tea if you want.” Liam tried to make him feel better as he watched the younger man stretch a bit, sitting up more straight himself and returning the smile Niall threw at him when he turned around.

“I’d be happier if you just lied down with me… but thank you.” When he leaned over to kiss Liam briefly, the older man didn’t think anything of it, but Niall pulled back really suddenly, shock written across his face as if he had just committed a crime. “Shit, sorry, I wasn’t th-“

“Ni, it’s okay. I’m sure you aren’t going to infect me. And even if you did I could just postpone some things, it’s no big deal. C’mon, let’s go to bed.” Honestly, Liam didn’t care just one single bit, he was simply worried about the younger man’s well-being right now. Like… physically and also mentally.

So they went to bed, Liam convincing Niall not to go and clean up right now and just lie down, promising that he would help him do it in the morning instead. He would have also done it now, but Niall was pulling him a bit too persistently to lie down with him, so obviously Liam wasn’t going to reject him. 

“Maybe you should take something… some medicine or so.” Liam suggested after a few moments of just holding the younger man, in complete darkness because he really wanted Niall to just rest and get some sleep.

“No… it’s not that bad, I don’t like taking anything too soon.” Niall explained, which sounded quite reasonable and Liam was pretty certain he had better understanding of these things anyways so he didn’t say anything else and just went back to rubbing the younger’s back, hoping he would fall asleep. “… Liam?”

“Yeah?” The older man asked, a little bit surprised honestly. 

“Are you okay?” He asked with a tiny bit of hesitation, which kind of confused Liam, almost as much as the question itself.

“I’m not sick if-“

“I don’t mean it like that.” Niall quickly interrupted, sounding tired but at the same time also very awake and curious about the answer and Liam had to swallow a bit as he realized what Niall was talking about.

“Oh.” Was all he made at first, still rubbing Niall’s back, a little glad right now that it was too dark for them to look at each other. And also a bit too hot underneath the blanket for Liam to think straight, but Niall seemed to be really cold anyways, having moved as close to Liam as somehow possible. “I mean… I’ve been better. You?”

“Yeah, I don’t know… I’m a bit torn between just wanting to ignore it and hope for the best or somehow work out a solution… but I can’t think of a solution… I mean, I could call them again and-“

“Don’t do that. It will only end in a fight and make things worse, and if they realize that you’re trying to change their minds they will only think they did a good job at scaring you and… maybe take it further.” Plus, Liam’s lawyer had told them not to do exactly that, like, make it all even worse by fighting more with them, or trying to change their minds. 

“I know, I just keep thinking maybe they were just upset and it was in the heat of the moment and that I would figure out I’m worrying for nothing at all because they’re gonna take it back or something… I don’t even know.” Niall let out a sigh, moving a bit in Liam’s arms so the older man let him, happy that he didn’t move away from him though. 

“Babe, there’s nothing else you could do, okay? You already told May not to talk about me anymore and we won’t go out in public together, they won’t have any more reason to be upset and what they have right now really isn’t all that much.” Hopefully, because god knew how long they had been planning this for, Liam surely didn’t, he didn’t even know these people in the first place. “I know it makes no difference right now, but I truly think it’s going to be alright.”

“I just hope you’re right… I feel like… like such an idiot, because I’m not doing anything about it and I’m afraid I’ll regret it later on. But then I’d probably also regret talking to them and… god, I just wish they’d call me and take it back or something. I know they won’t ‘cos they hate me anyways, and I really get it, I’d hate me too if I were them.” To be fair… Liam kind of got it as well, and they both knew it wasn’t even about Niall personally, but the whole situation was fucked up. “I’m just glad that at least they love May this much, like… they always loved her, even after what happened.”

“She’s the closest thing they have of their daughter.” It kinda slipped out, like, Liam had just been saying his thoughts out loud without really realizing, but it made Niall sigh yet again.

“Which is why they wanna have her.” Right. “You know it’s like… the biggest issue I have is that I get it. From their point of view. I truly do.”

“But you’re a great dad, Ni, and if they really wanted the best for her then they would realize that taking her away from you isn’t the best, at all. It’s selfish, and they try to justify and mask it by saying it’s about her or about me or whatever, but really it’s just about them.” Which made no difference in all this because it wouldn’t undo that phone call. 

“I know. They probably know it too. But still… I get it, you know? And also… “ Then he broke off, for just a second, and Liam was slightly afraid of what was about to come. “I used to consider it. Right after it happened, I- I actually thought about it. My parents convinced me otherwise, and they were there for me, helping me out and I lived with them, but… I still considered it. I considered giving her to them because I also thought maybe it’d be for the best. I couldn’t see myself raising a child all by myself.”

“But you are, and you’re doing a great job at it, okay? And they can’t take that away, you always put her first, she wouldn’t have it better with anybody else. And she’s _your_ daughter, no one else’s. You made the right choice back then.” Everything he had done was for her and anyone could have seen that, he had basically given up his life to make hers the best it could possibly be… and then Liam had come to mess it all up somehow. And he was painfully aware of that in that moment. “You, um… you never talked to them about it though, right? Like, that you considered giving her to them?”

“No… I don’t think so. It was a long time ago, we had a lot of fights and whatnot, I also don’t remember every detail about every conversation we had or what I said, I was a teenager as well, so… and it was all out of nowhere, first finding out I got someone pregnant and then her accident and… it was crazy.” Liam made a mental note not to ask about this anymore, because just talking about it, Niall still sounded a bit traumatized re-living it. 

“Okay, let’s not talk about it anymore… unless you want to.” Just to give him the option though it was pretty obvious they were on the same page here.

“I really don’t, actually… I should probably sleep.” Niall sounded a bit too worked up to actually sleep, but his voice got a bit softer when he suddenly kissed Liam’s exposed neck, pressing closer into him. “Thank you for being here… and for trying your best to help and listening to me… I know I overthink a lot and… and that this isn’t easy for you either. So I really don’t take it for granted. I love you.”

“I love you too, Ni… and you don’t need to thank me or apologize, I’ll always be here for you, and for May, you know that. And in a situation like this I really don’t see how anyone would NOT overthink.” Liam was doing it too after all, though probably for other reasons because he doubted he could have actually imagined the kinda panic Niall was feeling. He wasn’t a father after all. “Also… speaking of overthinking, I’ve probably done a bit too much of that as well and you’ve always been there and never told me to shut it, so… thank you for that also. And you have a free pass to overthink as much as you want.”

“Thank you.” At least it lightened the mood a bit because Niall let out a laugh, gently shoving Liam a bit. “You’re an idiot. But I love you.”

“I’m glad.” Liam chuckled, trying to blindly find the younger’s lips in the darkness, but he ended up just kissing the bridge of his nose, which was fine as well. “Go to sleep now, you’ll feel better in the morning. And I love you too.”

Niall didn’t answer, he just cuddled closer into Liam and the older man tried not to move too much anymore afterwards as to not disturb Niall and keep him from sleeping, but judging by his breath getting even, he had fallen asleep a few moments later anyways. So now Liam was damned to stay awake in this exact position for the next few hours and overthink for the both of them.

 

\-----------------------

 

When Niall woke up in the morning, he actually felt like crap, way worse than last night, and judging by the fact that Liam was already fully dressed and sitting on the mattress next to him with the most worried expression on his face, there was no need to hide it. “Hi… “

“Hi… how are you feeling? Your face his burning up.” Liam told him after briefly putting his palm against Niall’s forehead and then his cheek, his touch feeling cool against Niall’s skin.

“Not so great… “ He admitted, right before having to cough a bit, which almost killed his throat. Great. “I think I’ve really got a cold… “

“I think so too… I made you some tea and also some breakfast if you want. And- don’t get up, stay in bed, you need to rest.” Liam sounded almost panicked when Niall sat up a bit, still half lying down though because he hadn’t felt like getting out of bed anyways. “I can bring you everything you need, okay? And if you tell me where it is.”

“Okay…. thank you. I think I gotta go and use the bathroom in a bit though.” Which actually sounded like a hell of a challenge, but not as much as the fact that Niall suddenly remembered where May was. “Fuck… I need to pick up May from my parents’ house.”

“You can’t drive anywhere like this. I can pick her up.” To be fair, Liam probably said it without thinking, but it caused Niall’s stomach to sink as he was once again reminded of the current state his life was in. As if he could have forgotten. 

“I, uh, don’t think that’d be the best idea.” Niall told him carefully, not really sure how to word it and he had also just woken up. Luckily, Liam immediately took it back.

“Right. Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t thinking, um… but maybe your parents can drive her over? I really don’t want you to go outside like this. Or drive by yourself.” Though Niall hated to admit it, Liam was probably right with that. He also didn’t feel like he’d even manage to do it anyways, so there was that.

“Maybe she shouldn’t be around me today anyways, she’s got school tomorrow… and you probably shouldn’t either.” As much as Niall wanted to have him here because he knew he would have gone insane all by himself, especially now, he still had to at least try and get Liam to leave, stay healthy. Even if he knew that there was no way the older man would have ever actually left him. 

“I’m not going anywhere, not when you’re sick. I told you, I don’t care if you get me sick as well, okay? So what do you want me to get you?” So that was final then, and Niall tried not to be too relieved because he knew it kinda wasn’t right, but he couldn’t help it either way.

Liam ended up bringing Niall more to eat and more medicine to take than necessary, but of course the younger man appreciated it either ways. Almost as much as the fact that Liam got back into bed with him afterwards, letting him lie on his chest as he fought to stay awake. He had already texted his parents to tell them he was sick and they had offered to just drop May off a bit later, so she wouldn’t be around him too much today. Niall knew that May would possibly be a bit upset over that, but honestly… her being here today wouldn’t be any fun for her anyways. And maybe not spending so much time with Liam for once after all this wasn’t a bad idea either.

Not that it’d change anything.

“You know what I keep thinking about?” Niall spoke up after a few minutes of silence between them and Liam just playing with his hair. 

“Hm?” The older man made, almost sounding as if HE was the one who was falling asleep. 

“It’s almost been a whole year since I took May to your Meet and Greet…like, that’s so crazy. A year ago at this time I was still stressing out over what people would say once she shoved these pictures in everyone’s face.” Niall remembered it quite vividly, because this whole year, or rather the past 10 or 11 months had gone by so damn quickly, so much had happened and for him to be lying here right now, with Liam… that was kinda insane. “Do you actually remember when she came up to you at the mall a couple days later?”

“I… I’m not sure if I do… was I with someone else?” Liam honestly sounded a bit guilty over not remembering, but Niall didn’t blame him. He probably also had zero memory of that Meet and Greet either. 

“Yeah… I thought it was your girlfriend or something.” Maybe she had been, it’s not like Niall would’ve cared either way, it was too long in the past.

“I think I was with my ex, actually… like, we tried to remain friends and- anyways, you probably don’t wanna hear that. We don’t talk anymore, so… “ He quickly let the conversation die off and Niall just laughed, which was a bad idea because it only made him cough. “But yeah it is crazy, how much time has passed and everything… and that we randomly met so many times as well.”

“Fate.” Niall joked, because he was sure both Harry and Louis would have said that at this point.

“Maybe it was… “ Liam mumbled, and then they both stayed quiet, undoubtedly thinking about the same exact thing.

If it had been fate indeed, if all this had been meant to be… then how come the odds were kinda working against them? 

 

\------------------------------------

 

Things stayed calm for a while. Niall kinda didn’t have a choice but to pull himself together the following week even though Liam told him to take it slow, but Niall had May to take care of after all and bring her to school and whatnot, and he did feel a lot better on Monday morning. Liam joked that surely that was because he had listened to him and stayed in bed all Sunday, and Niall secretly thought that maybe he was right, but it surely hadn’t helped as much as Liam just being there for him, cuddling him and trying his best to make Niall feel better.

So of course it hurt even more when he had to leave to continue on with his tour, even further away than the months before. And Niall knew that this actually wasn’t bad timing at all because of everything going on, but he still hated saying goodbye to Liam, knowing that for the next month and a half he’d only really see him sporadically, for a few days at most.

Maybe it would at least prevent May’s grandparents from getting even more upset with Niall, and maybe they HAD just acted out of impulse and anger and weren’t actually going to carry out their threats. 

Then again, hoping for that wasn’t the smartest idea either. And actually, Niall didn’t feel smart about any of his actions right now, he just felt helpless and nervous, like, all the freaking time.

“When are we gonna go and get my Halloween costume?” May asked for maybe the twelfth time today and at this point, it just made Niall sigh.

“I don’t know yet, okay? I promise you will have it on time.” This year Niall’s mother wasn’t making it because May wanted a store bought one or something, and Niall didn’t mind, he just had zero time to go and buy one with her right now. 

“But dad, I-“

“May, I’m really sorry, but I’m busy, okay? Me and uncle Harry have to work, and I promise I will go and get a costume with you, but not today.” He was getting slightly impatient, but at least May accepted that though she looked VERY unhappy as she sighed before walking off to her room. Or stomping more like, but she didn’t throw the door shut so that was something.

“Since when does she call you _dad?_ ” Was apparently all Harry had picked up on and Niall shrugged, not really caring that much about it.

“Don’t know, I didn’t even notice to be honest. I guess she’s growing out of calling me daddy or something.” Niall didn’t mind it, he also didn’t think anything of it because she was getting older after all. 

“Remember when she couldn’t even talk properly? Time passed by so fast and I feel so old.” Harry laughed and Niall nodded because it was true. He could still vividly remember when May had been a baby, but he didn’t exactly miss that time that much. Not because of her, just because of what he had been going through at that time. “Does she call Liam by his name?”

“Yeah, of course… what would she call him?” Niall looked up from his laptop for a moment, confused for a second until he understood what Harry meant. “He’s not her parent.”

“I know, but I just thought, because she’s a child and all and it could get confusing to her and stuff… “ The other man simply shrugged, but Niall somehow couldn’t move on from it immediately.

“I talked to her about it all, and she knows she can ask if she’s got any questions, but… I think she knows why she’s calling him by his name, and that he’s not like, her second dad or something. I mean… if we never break up and years go by then… “ Then maybe it would be alright if May wanted to call him something else, but honestly, Niall wasn’t really thinking that much into the future, especially now. “I guess right now it’s a good thing she’s used to just calling him Liam.”

“You mean because of the thing with her grandparents?” Again, Niall just nodded, not quite sure why he had even implied that right now because he didn’t actually want to talk about it. But somehow he did, it was confusing. “Did you ever talk to them again ever since that phone call?”

“Not really… they texted me, but just because they wanna have May next weekend. I don’t want her to go because of everything going on but if I don’t let them have her they will just use it against me and say I’m trying to keep her away from them or something.” Niall had talked to May about some things she shouldn’t say, but he hadn’t wanted her to become suspicious, so it was like… really fucking difficult to deal with this whole situation. 

“Do you think they’re gonna like… ask her things? And try to find out stuff?” Good, so it wasn’t only Niall who thought that.

“I think they might try to, yeah. I already talked to Liam about it and he talked to his lawyer, and then I also talked to May again but… I hope they’ll be sensible enough to keep her out of this whole thing. I just keep hoping that they just wanna see her.” They hadn’t seen her in a while, so it wasn’t actually that weird, but of course it still made Niall think and worry, even if he tried to suppress it. “It’ll be fine though, either way.”

Harry didn’t really answer after that, he just nodded, looking at Niall for a moment before asking him something work related and Niall didn’t quite know what to think about that, but he decided to try and move past it. They didn’t exactly have the time to discuss this anyways, and there was nothing they could have done about it after all.

 

\------------------------

 

“What do you want to do, sweetheart? Do you wanna play something?” May’s grandma was being a lot nicer than usually, which made May happy because she actually had rather wanted to stay home today. Her dad had told her often enough though that she wasn’t ever allowed to say that out loud, so she never had. She knew it would’ve been rude. 

“Hmm… can we also draw something?” She asked hopefully, not sure if her grandma would agree, but she nodded immediately. Her grandpa was also here, but he was in the living room reading the newspaper or something. “I brought my coloring book.”

“Oh, that’s great. Did you also bring your pens? Because actually I thought you might really like these.” And then her grandmother went over to the counter to get something and May couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Glitter pens!” And so many of them as well that May could hardly believe it. Usually she always had to bring her own things to her grandparents’ house because they didn’t have anything. “Can I borrow them?!”

“Of course, love, I bought them just for you.” Her grandma told her as she handed them to May with a smile and the girl wished her dad would have still been here so he could have been excited with her. “Do you also want a snack while drawing? I made cupcakes yesterday.”

“I love cupcakes! Thank you.” May made sure to tell her, a little worried about the cupcakes because she didn’t really like her grandma’s cooking or whatever she baked, but she also knew that that was even more rude to say.

Luckily though, the cupcakes turned out to be really, really good, and her grandma also sat with her when she got out her coloring book, asking to see all her pictures and about school and everything and actually, May was having a lot of fun. More fun than she usually had here, so she felt a bit better now knowing that her dad would only come to pick her up again much later. 

“Hey, you know what, May?” Her grandpa came over as well after a while to sit with them and have a cupcake, still with his newspaper though. “We saw some pictures of you in the newspaper a while ago.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s because of Liam. All my friends saw them too.” May told them, and she knew she wasn’t supposed to talk about him anymore with her friends and stuff, and her dad had said not to say too much in general, but May didn’t know why and she also thought that this was okay because they were her grandparents after all, right? And they knew her dad was in love with Liam. “Can I have another cupcake?”

“You can have as many as you want, sweetheart, just don’t tell your dad, okay?” Her grandma laughed, so it was clearly a joke, and May smiled as she reached across the table before sitting back on her legs again that she had pulled onto the chair. “So what do you think about it when people take pictures of you?”

“I don’t care. I never see anyone taking the pictures.” May shrugged while continuing to color in her picture. “Maybe it’s a little bit cool, it’s like me and daddy are famous like Liam.”

“Do you want to be?” Her grandma kept asking and May had to actually think about that for a moment.

“Hmmm… no, I don’t think so. It’s not always fun I think. And I wanna be a doctor instead. Or maybe a doctor for animals.” And she couldn’t be both, right? 

“I think that would be an amazing idea, love.” Her grandparents both agreed on that, which made May quite happy. “And you’ve also been to New York a while ago, hm? I always wanted to go there as well, was it a lot of fun?”

Now May did stop drawing, because she kinda remembered her dad saying something about that, but May didn’t think she was supposed to lie about that because they already knew about it, right? “Yeah, it was… but not all of it.”

“What wasn’t fun? Just because if I ever go there I wanna know what not to do.” That made sense to May, and she honestly felt a bit proud she could give her grandma tips.

“The flight was like, _really_ long. And I was really tired because the clocks there are different… but we didn’t go to a lot of places because it was Liam’s birthday. And I missed my dad.” May had still had fun though, a lot more so when her dad had arrived as well.

“Yeah, I already heard you went without him, that was so brave of you. How did that happen?” Her grandma sounded very interested, so May told her all about it, and then about the interview she had gone to with Liam and how scary it had been when there had been so many people and how tired she had been, and well… once she had finished, she suddenly remembered something really important and it made her freeze. “… what’s wrong, love?”

“Um, nothing.” May lied, feeling her heart starting to beat a bit faster though because her dad had told her just last night not to talk about the interview in New York. And she had forgotten, because she had already been talking about it and… oh god, what if her dad would be really upset now? May had promised him not to say anything even though she didn’t know why. 

“Okay.” Her grandma still sounded curious, but she didn’t ask again, for which May was really happy but she also felt really bad now. “You know… you know how we don’t really talk that much to your dad?”

“Umm… yeah?” May did know that, although she wasn’t so sure why that was. She thought it was because they didn’t like her dad that much, and also the other way around, but whenever she asked her dad about it he said it was just complicated. Everything was complicated whenever May was confused about something and asked him. 

“I was just wondering… how did all this with Liam even happen? I mean, he spends a lot of time with you and your dad, doesn’t he?” Oh.

“Umm… sometimes.” Now May was getting really nervous because her dad had said to say Liam wasn’t spending much time with them anymore, but could she talk about everything that HAD already happened?! He had never said she wasn’t allowed to talk about how it had happened. And it was her grandma asking any whd wouldn’t May be allowed to tell her?

So she did, but she tried to be careful and think about what her dad had said she shouldn’t say, but it really confused May a lot and by the end of it, she felt a bit guilty. Or a lot.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Her grandpa asked when they had stopped asking her questions about Liam and her dad and May was getting very stressed out and it was almost making her cry. She had promised her dad and maybe she had said things she wasn’t supposed to say like, but it hadn’t been on purpose at all. She couldn’t LIE to her grandparents, could she? 

“Nothing… “ May mumbled, looking down at her plate and playing with wrappers her cupcakes had been in. “Why did you ask so much about Liam?”

“Oh, we were just curious, nothing else, love. Because we’ve seen you in the newspaper and everything, and we just wanted to know a bit about him, that’s all.” Her grandma reassured her, making May feel only a little tiny bit better. “Do you not like talking about him?”

“I don’t mind it… I really like him… “ May started before stopping herself. She didn’t want to say more things she wasn’t supposed to say.

“Well, that’s good, right?” Her grandma asked and the girl simply nodded, still playing with the wrappers. “… does your dad not like when you talk about Liam?”

So now May REALLY didn’t know what to say, she was a little tiny bit relieved maybe, that her grandma knew what was going on and she hadn’t had to say it, so she nodded slowly, but then shrugged instead. She really wanted to go home now. 

“Don’t worry about it, May, we won’t tell him, okay?” May hadn’t been afraid of that, because she knew they didn’t really talk to her dad, but she still felt bad that maybe she had broken her pinky promise. “Did he tell you not to talk too much about him with us?”

“Ummm… he said… he said, um… not to talk too much about Liam because you don’t like him so much… “ That was all May said, and it was true after all, right? They had never liked her talking about him, even before she had ever even met him.

“We don’t mind it at all, love, don’t worry, yeah? But we can talk about something else now, we were just curious, that’s all. Do you wanna draw some more or do you wanna play now?” May was very relieved that they stopped talking about Liam for the rest of the day and instead played board games with her and even let her watch a movie that wasn’t too boring and when her dad picked her up in the evening, May decided not to tell him about any of it because he didn’t ask. And her grandparents had promised that they had just been curious and why would it be a bad thing anyways? They were her grandparents after all and her dad had only made her pinky promise not to talk about Liam in school, right? 

And if he didn’t ask about it then it couldn’t be that important and they were also talking to Liam on the phone that night, so May kinda forgot all about it anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :)
> 
> this is a bit of an early update because i wanna clean up my laptop and ill probably forget the time because i have too much stuff to delete on there haah, but anywas, i hope you liked the chapter!!
> 
> again, i will try to educate myself on legal things a bit, and make it as realistic as possible moving forward! let me know your thoughts if you want :D  
> i hope you all have a great week <3


	21. Chapter 21

When Niall’s phone was going off and he saw who was calling, he literally felt his heart dropping to his stomach because of how unexpected it was. But also because of how panicked he felt all of a sudden, literally freezing in the movement, his thumb hovering over the screen before he forced himself to actually answer. Ignoring it wouldn’t make any problems go away, at all, it would possibly only make things a lot worse.

“Um, hello?” Niall asked, clearing his throat a bit and trying to act as natural as possible. Had they waited until Sunday night, to make sure he had no excuses in case he ignored their call?

“Hello, Niall.” The thing was, May’s grandmother actually didn’t at all sound upset or anything, or as if she was about to threaten him again, and yet Niall’s stomach turned and he suddenly felt kinda cold. “How are you?”

“Um… good? How, uh, how are you?” Was this REALLY necessary? For them to suddenly pretend they had ever had small talk before in their entire lives? If they suddenly had new reasons for wanting to sue him then why all the trouble, why not just say it? Did this have anything to do with yesterday, when May had been at their place? Niall hadn’t wanted to interrogate her and he had been naïve enough to believe they wouldn’t do it either. 

“We’re great as well, thank you for asking.” Was this sarcasm? It HAD to be, but Niall couldn’t really concentrate because he was just scared if anything, and underprepared. “I’m sorry for bothering you this late on a Sunday, I just wanted to ask a favor of you.”

“No worries, uh- what favor?” Okay, wait, so was this the new tactic? Asking favors of him he probably couldn’t deny them because they’d threaten him again with legal actions otherwise?

“So yesterday when May was with us, we kinda talked a bit about Halloween and you know, she told me how excited she was and everything. And she also said she doesn’t have a costume yet, so I was just wondering if it would be okay with you if I took her and bought her one next week?” Wait… 

“I- oh. Yeah, of course, um, if you wanna take her, you totally can.” How was this a favor they were asking of Niall? Wasn’t it kinda the other way around? What game was this?

“Great! Just let me know what day works best for you when you have time.” Again, she sounded super happy and excited, as if she was on drugs or something and for the split of a second, Niall suddenly wondered whether they had changed their minds. Maybe they really only were concerned for May but had now decided to change their approach and try to spend more time with her by being nice to Niall? 

“I’ll text you tomorrow morning, if that’s okay?” Niall was wording it all carefully, trying not to piss her off or anything, but it seemed no matter what he would’ve said, he couldn’t have even done that had he tried.

“Of course. Have a good night.” And then she hung up as soon as Niall had said it back, so confused that he didn’t even immediately remove his phone from his ear. 

Actually it was almost May’s bed time, but if he didn’t do this now then tomorrow morning would surely be even less smart. 

“May? Can you come here, love?” Niall called out. She was in her room playing because he had so much work to do on his laptop that he hadn’t gotten done during the week because his schedule had just been so cluttered. If he was being REAL honest with himself right now, then he was actually relieved that he wouldn’t have to go and buy that Halloween costume.

“Okay!” May took a few minutes to actually come into the living room, already in her pajamas and ready for bed because Niall had made sure of it beforehand so she could be in bed quicker. Seemed like that would have to wait. “Look.”

“What’s that? Wow, that’s so good.” Niall acted surprised when she showed him a picture she had drawn. “Did you make that for your friend’s birthday?”

“Yeah, and I also got the card Liam wrote his name in.” Right, Niall had almost forgotten about that. They had also bought something for her friend at the store a couple days ago, some candy and a plush toy or whatever, Niall had let May pick something out within like 5 minutes because they had been in a rush. Explained the costume situation. 

“She’s gonna be so happy about that.” She would be, although he wasn’t really sure if he wanted to know how this would end. “Listen, I just got a call from your grandma. Not my mom, your other grandma.”

“Oh.” Upon hearing that, May kinda stiffened a little and Niall was confused, but he brushed it off. “Why?”

“Well, she called because she wanted to know if you’d like to go buy a Halloween costumer with her next week.” Something Niall hadn’t really considered though…. what if May didn’t want to?

“I thought you are going with me.” She didn’t sound so unhappy climbing on the couch next to Niall, but also not thrilled.

“I know, but I’m really busy and your grandma sounded very excited about it.” Not to guilt trip her or something, but like… Niall would have actually kinda appreciated this. “But you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“But then she’s gonna be sad.” May threw in, which was probably true, but more than that, it would possibly have legal actions. Which Niall didn’t say of course, because he had to make it seem as if May had a choice, even though she actually didn’t have one at all and it made him feel quite terrible, but what else was he supposed to do? “What if she buys me a costume I really don’t like?”

“You can tell her that, love. It’s your costume, not hers.” Niall of course knew about May’s struggle with her grandparents that she sometimes experienced, but actually when he had picked her up yesterday, she had seemed to be in good spirits. Maybe they were actually changing their tactics to just trying harder and being nicer to both of them? Like… Niall would have no problem letting them have May more often if May actually would’ve wanted that. “I tell you what, if she really gets you a costume you don’t like you can tell me and I’ll go and buy a new one with you, okay? I promise you’ll have a costume you like in time, either way.”

“Hmmm, okay.” The girl agreed after thinking about it, relief spreading through Niall. “So can I also have a scary costume?”

“A little scary, but not too much, okay? I talked to your friend’s mom and she said she doesn’t want anyone to get scared.” It hadn’t been the best phone conversation, but Niall had tried. “I’m afraid you can’t be a zombie. Unless we leave out the blood and-“

“But the blood is the best part.” May complained, and maybe Niall suddenly questioned his past Halloween decisions as a father a bit in that moment. But then again, he was questioning his parenting skills since weeks now. “Fine, I’ll just get a costume for babies then.”

“Halloween isn’t just about scary costumes.” Niall started until he realized he had nothing to follow that up with because honestly… was he gonna say it was about eating candy? No. “I’m sure you’ll find a costume you’ll like.”

“Hm.” Was all May made before shrugging, playing with the sleeves of her pajamas. “I wish Liam would be here for Halloween.”

“I know… but he’s gonna come home before that, for a few days.” And then he’d leave again, and Niall didn’t actually know what was worse, like, not seeing him for such long periods or having to say goodbye over and over again, especially with everything going on. “But um… you still remember what I said, right? About you talking about Liam and everything?”

“I know I’m not supposed to.” Thank god. “But… but what if someone asks?”

“Then just try to not say too much, okay? It’s just because, you know… some people don’t like that we know him.” That was always what Niall said about that, trying to keep it as vague as possible but not leave her with even more questions. 

“Like… people we don’t know? Like the ones that took the pictures?” May asked, and Niall just nodded because he couldn’t exactly say who it was really about. Maybe it was also about strangers though, it surely wouldn’t hurt for May to say as little as possible either way. “Um… daddy?”

“Yes?” Niall was slightly concerned now, because of how carefully she had asked, and how she was suddenly moving closer. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, but… I don’t really understand why I can’t talk about Liam anymore and I know it’s adult things, but… what if someone asks me really hard questions or so and then I don’t want to lie and what if I say something wrong… are you gonna be mad at me?” Shit.

“Hey, no, I’d never be mad, okay? I’m sorry if I was making you feel nervous or worried, you really don’t have to be. You can say whatever you think is right, yeah? I just wanted to make sure you don’t talk too much about him spending time with us, that’s all. Okay?” Great, now Niall really deserved the worst father of the year award.

“Okay… “ May let herself be cuddled by Niall, leaning into him as the man kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes for a moment. God, he hated all of this so much. 

“I’m sorry this is all so confusing and that I worried you. Everything is fine, okay? And I’d never be upset with you, or mad, or disappointed or anything else because of this. I know I’m asking a lot of you and I promise one day you will understand and I know that’s really annoying to say, but it’s true. I love you more than anything in the world.” Which was exactly why this was necessary.

“I love you too… “ May mumbled, going limp in his arms but also leaning more against him so Niall didn’t let her go just yet, he just lingered in the moment for a bit, trying to calm himself down. “When Liam isn’t on tour anymore… is he gonna stay here with us?”

“I think so… do you want him to?” No idea why Niall had decided to ask, but he regretted it at an instant.

“Yeah… I wish he could always be here… you’re happier too when he’s here.” She was right with that observation though Niall was always kinda surprised by how easily she picked up on these things. And especially in times like these, he wasn’t sure what else she picked up on but stayed quiet about. “Is he gonna be your boyfriend forever?”

“I don’t know, love… I hope so.” What else was he supposed to say? No? And he also couldn’t say yes and make her false promises and actually, all of this right here was exactly why Niall hadn’t dated ever since she had been born. “You know… forever is a really long time. And everyone gets older and things happen and adults sometimes make a lot of wrong decisions as well, but… me and Liam will always try our best to work it out. And no matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you, okay?”

“Okay… and I’m sure Liam will wanna be your boyfriend forever because he always says he loves you.” That made Niall’s throat a bit tighter and he blinked back a few tears as he was suddenly overwhelmed with how much he actually missed Liam, and how much he just wanted everything to work out. “When you marry him, can I wear a rainbow dress?”

Niall let out a laugh at that before he agreed, making sure to tell May though that he wasn’t sure if he’d get married to Liam or not. But if he did, if he ever married anyone, she could have whatever dress she wanted. 

 

\------------------------

 

May did get a costume she liked, and for some very strange reason, she came home telling Niall how much she had enjoyed herself. So then Niall was in a bit of conflict, but on the other hand, he decided that maybe this was the best possible outcome, for them all to come together somehow, be nicer and actually figure this out privately. He didn’t trust the situation fully of course, especially not when it was Sunday and he drove May to her grandparents yet again after they had called him, being as friendly as ever. 

It wasn’t even like it was inconvenient for Niall because of work, or as if May didn’t want to go because they were actually taking her to the cinema, so it was like… strangely normal. A lot more normal than anything else that had happened between them in the past. But really, what more could Niall have asked for at this point, right? 

“I can’t wait for you to come home.” Niall just said it straight out because it was the truth and he was tired and he missed Liam. Everything would’ve been so much easier with him here, even though not really but like, emotionally.

“Me too… I’ll be there in five days.” Liam promised, clearly suppressing a yawn but Niall chose to ignore that. He knew Liam was tired because it was really late for him but today he didn’t care because he just wanted to talk to him. 

“Yeah… but I mean when your tour is over and you come home for good.” He tried to play it off as a joke but they both knew it wasn’t one anyways. “Until your next tour.”

“I don’t know if there will be a next tour or not, I mean, obviously at some point, but… probably not next year. I told you.” He had and Niall had almost felt guilty but then he had decided that Liam was doing whatever he himself thought was best and if he chose not to tour… that was his decision. 

“I know. But I’m hoping we’ll be together for longer than just next year.” Niall laughed, moving a bit on the couch because his arm was falling asleep. “No, but I am really looking forward to you being here in a few days… what do you want me to cook when you get here?”

“Whatever you feel like. But you don’t have t-“

“I want to though. And I do have to, I’ve got a child as well.” Plus Niall kinda had to eat himself also and he didn’t mind cooking, it was actually very low on his list of chores he didn’t want to fulfill but had to. “Provided she’s even gonna be here.”

“Maybe they really just wanna try harder with her and actually make her want to spend time with them. I mean… it’s not a bad thing, is it? They are her grandparents.” Liam was right, but Niall was still suspicious as hell. 

“Yeah… it’s just… no matter what they want or suggest, I can’t ever say no again, even if May didn’t want to go.” He could technically say no, but why risk it? 

“She does want to though, for now. And maybe if this is their new tactic then they just wanna have her this often now but it’s going to normalize after a while. It could be a lot worse.” Clearly the older man was kinda convinced that things were going to be alright, but Niall didn’t really trust it yet. No idea if he’d ever be fully able to either.

“It could be worse, yeah, but I just keep thinking it’s strange they’d just change their mind like that. It’s surely better than May having to lie about you for the rest of her life though, it was really stressing her out and I didn’t even think about it at first.” Well, he had thought about it, but not in too much depth, it had been selfish and Niall wished he could’ve taken it back, somehow worded it differently, but it was too late anyways. 

“She is going to be fine, Ni, don’t blame yourself, it was an extraordinary situation. And if things stay the way they are now then it won’t matter in the end, it might even be better than it was before. Like, the whole situation between you and them, it’d be better for May also if you get along.” Liam encouraged him and Niall tried to actually internalize that, tell himself that Liam was right and that there was nothing to worry about anymore. 

“I hope you’re right… but I can’t really influence it anyways.” At least not in a positive way. “… how was your concert tonight? Sorry I didn’t even ask before.”

So they talked about that for a bit, and Liam’s yawns were definitely increasing but they both ignored it and Niall chose to stay on Facetime with him until the older man himself decided to go to sleep. He actually had work to do as well and whatnot, but without May here and the whole place being so damn quiet, Niall wasn’t even sure if he actually preferred that. He wasn’t used to being alone so much, having so much time to himself, and he also wasn’t sure if he actually liked that. Pretty sure Liam could tell. 

“Do you have a lot of work to do?” Liam asked after a while, a clear hint at him wanting to sleep so Niall decided to pull it together.

“Kinda… you can go to sleep, Li, it’s fine.” The fact that Niall would probably still be awake by the time Liam got up again was kinda frightening but something he would just have to deal with. “I might actually go and visit my parents. I’ll tell them you said hi.”

“Okay… but I can also stay awake if-“

“No, I’m okay. There’s nothing going on actually, so… “ So everything Niall was worried about was just his mind playing tricks on him kind of. Or maybe not, but he probably wouldn’t find out anytime soon. “Go to sleep, I can see you falling asleep sitting up.”

“I’m trying.” Liam laughed, but only briefly before he had to yawn yet again. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Li. Text me when you get up, okay? I’ll probably still not have started with anything work related by then.” Actually, today seemed like a brilliant day to re-arrange absolutely everything in his apartment and then regret it once it was too late to put it all back. 

“I will. And you deserve a break anyways, so don’t worry about if you don’t get anything done.” Liam was just the sweetest as always, he also pretended to be kissing the screen just to make Niall roll his eyes and laugh but secretly love it anyways. God, he just wished Liam was here for real, even if just knowing he was asleep in the other room. 

When they did end the call a couple minutes later, Niall actually just sat in silence for a moment, trying not to think of anything in particular because nothing at all was pleasant to think about right now anyways. He didn’t know what would happen next week or maybe even in three months and that was frustrating, but it was also scary as hell.

He didn’t end up visiting his parents but instead just called them, and then he also called Zayn for a bit because his troubles with his high school students actually were the best distraction Niall could have asked for. Re-organizing didn’t actually turn out to be a lot of fun either, so Niall tried to do some actual work, but not more than the absolute minimum. 

So in the end, he ended up driving to the store and doing meal prep for the following week because why the hell not, but when he was done with that, it still wasn’t time to pick May up again. Maybe Niall wasn’t actually as busy as he always thought, maybe he actually needed all these distractions in order not to have too much time to think about stuff and he only realized that now. 

The thing was though, nothing was actually really wrong right now, but it felt much more like the calm before a storm rather than the actual end of Niall’s worries.

 

\-----------------------

 

Liam should’ve known his connecting flight would get delayed, but he was still upset over it. He was also kinda afraid to get off of airplane mode upon landing, because lately he was always a bit nervous about checking his phone. There were no unpleasant news though, in fact, the only text message Liam cared about was actually really good news. But also surprising.

Because it was so late and the delays and him having switched his flight this morning, the chances of anybody being here waiting for Liam were pretty much zero, so Liam’s brief panic about Niall having texted him he’d come to pick him up eased very quickly. He didn’t have security or anybody with him, so Liam still made sure to walk quickly, keep his hood pulled as far down his face as possible. 

“Liam.” Upon hearing his name so randomly, Liam actually considered just continuing to walk, but then someone touched his shoulder and before he could come to terms with having been recognized, he was already looking in Niall’s face. “Hi, sorry, I thought-“

“Oh my god, you scared me. Hi. Fuck. I missed you so much.” Liam let out a laugh, not really knowing where his head was as he immediately pulled the younger man in a hug, holding him so tightly as if he could make up for all these days that he hadn’t been able to. 

“Sorry for scaring you, I gotta say you were really hard to recognize.” Niall laughed as he hugged back just as tight, immediately easing the weight Liam had felt in his chest just by being here. “I really missed you too… I didn’t know if it was smart to come but no one is here. And I was kinda losing my mind at home waiting.”

“… where’s May?” Right, that was the bigger question, actually, although the look on Niall’s face kinda gave Liam his answer. “Oh. Okay. Has she ever spent a night with them?”

“Yeah, but not many. But she didn’t mind it once she found out you’d only come home after her bed time anyways, so… we should probably leave.” Niall randomly broke off, probably because he was sensing Liam was about to ask bigger questions, snapping out of it though when he realized that yes, they should definitely leave. 

Liam made sure to intertwine his fingers with Niall’s after kissing him and the younger man joked about not being able to follow along with how fast he was walking, that he actually looked a bit scary with his hood up and everything. To be fair, the hood had become pointless now that Niall was here with him, but nobody stopped them or looked at them, and the few people who were still at the airport surely weren’t secretly photographing them from behind. Liam still made sure to check his phone though once they were sitting in Niall’s car. 

“Do you mind that she’s there again?” He kinda asked carefully as Niall was pulling out of his parking spot and Liam felt a need to continue this conversation. 

“No, I don’t.” Niall told him immediately, and it sounded genuine, but then he seemed to hesitate. “The thing is just… it makes me wonder, why they didn’t try this hard all these years and suddenly they are. I mean, apparently it wasn’t at all hard for them to completely change May’s mind about them, so I kinda wonder what they are telling or giving her. Or are they just suddenly completely different people?”

“Did you ask May?” Because that was kinda the obvious thing to do, but Niall shook his head. 

“I’ve learned my lesson not to drag her into this again after I realized how much it was stressing her out. She’s gonna wanna know why I’m asking these questions and I don’t wanna interfere with their relationship with her and conspire behind their back and make a seven year old wonder if maybe her grandparents are just being fake nice to her. I _want_ them to have a good relationship, I just… I don’t know if it’s genuine. And I literally would be the stupidest person alive to bring it up to them because then _I_ look like the villain again.” Right. Obviously Niall had already put a lot more thoughts into this issue than Liam, so the older man was even happier that he was finally home again for a few days so he could be by Niall’s side and support and listen to him.

“Yeah… the really crazy part of this is all is that they could’ve done this all along and they simply chose to treat you this way instead and be all distant and whatnot. But maybe it is genuine.” Maybe they had forgiven Niall, although Liam wasn’t exactly sure what they had had to forgive him for anyways, he had done nothing wrong. 

“Maybe, I guess I’ll either never find out or a lot worse things are going to happen and then it won’t matter anymore.” He sighed, but before Liam could have said something else, Niall had suddenly reached over to hold his hand, his voice changing a bit when he continued. “Let’s talk about something else. Are you tired? Hungry? I had too much time with everyone gone I’ve got like 5 meals you can choose from.” 

“I’m not that hungry, I don’t wanna ruin your meal prep.” Also, by the time they’d be home it’d be like 1 in the morning and Liam was kinda hungry, but he’d probably forget about it easily once they finally lied down. 

“I have too much anyways, it’s fine. You’ve got like an hour to think about it anyways. Or sleep, if you want.” Niall squeezed Liam’s hand before pulling it away to put it back on the steering wheel and Liam watched his profile for a moment, as far as he could in darkness and sporadic lightning from outside. 

He wasn’t tired at all, so he definitely wouldn’t sleep, but he wasn’t sure if maybe Niall should have slept instead. It’s not that he seemed to be tired, just exhausted from everything going on, and it was noticeable that all of this was tiring him out, he always tried to do it off as a joke, saying he was going insane at home, that he had too much time to think, but they both knew it wasn’t a joke at all. And Liam really wished his tour would’ve ended sooner so he could have actually been here with Niall, where he was supposed to be. After all, their relationship was what had started all of this, and Liam sometimes wondered if it could have been prevented, if he had been too careless, if they had made too many wrong decisions without realizing. Or maybe it would have just delayed things.

“I’m not tired, at all… but you can pull over and we switch and you can sleep instead.” Liam offered after a moment, slowly reaching over so he wouldn’t startle Niall, brushing his fingers through the younger’s hair in the back of his neck. “You look exhausted.”

“I’m fine, actually I went back to sleep today after bringing May to school. And I only worked for like four hours, so. Did you sleep on the plane?” Okay so Niall didn’t know what Liam had really been referring to, so he decided to let it drop because it was kinda obvious Niall didn’t wanna talk about this anymore. 

“Yeah, so now I’m gonna be awake the whole night.” And sadly, that wasn’t even a joke. 

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find something to do to make you tired again.” Niall suddenly joked out of nowhere, but Liam had to admit it definitely lifted his mood. 

“Like what?” Liam asked, just for fun, suddenly hating the fact that they were so far away from home.

“Hmm, like deep clean my entire kitchen and the bathroom?” The younger man laughed when Liam huffed, pulling his hand away but more so because he didn’t wanna distract Niall too much when he was driving. “And we won’t even have to try and be quiet.”

“Sounds like an amazing idea, Nialler, I can’t wait.” Although it was kinda funny really, because Liam didn’t at all mind whenever he _actually_ helped Niall clean his place and yet he paid someone to keep his own clean. Then again, he was barely ever there now. 

Niall just laughed before suddenly turning the volume of the radio higher because one of Liam’s songs had come on and the older man cringed a bit on the inside at first, but he had to admit he was highly amused by his boyfriend getting all the lyrics wrong just to make him laugh. To be fair though, he probably didn’t know the lyrics anyways, even if he would have actually tried to get them right.

 

\-----------------------

 

“What’re you doing?” Niall was giggling into Liam’s mouth when the older man backed him up against the wall the moment the front door had fallen shut and he had dropped his bag on the floor. 

“Nothing.” Liam mumbled against Niall’s lips before kissing him, wrapping his arm around the younger’s back to keep him close as he nudged the younger’s lips apart, somehow not being able to wait until they had actually gotten to Niall’s bedroom or anywhere really. He definitely wasn’t going to eat anything tonight. At least nothing from Niall’s meal prep.

The younger man kissed back immediately, wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck, pressing up close against him while Liam was crowding him against the wall. He knew they’d eventually have to break apart and take off their shoes and whatnot, but he really didn’t care right now because he had been wanting to do this for over a week now so he wasn’t going to waste any time. Plus, there was no one here they could’ve woken up and neither of them was that tired, so what better thing to do, right?

“Liam-“ Niall tried in between kisses, but the older man didn’t let him speak immediately and the younger man also didn’t seem to really want to anyways until they both had to catch their breath. “Can we at least go to the bedroom?”

“Why?” Liam asked with a breathless laugh as he kissed Niall again, but he also kind of meant it. His hands were all the way up underneath the younger’s shirt, caressing his skin while Niall’s fingers ghosting over his own were giving him endless goosebumps. They did occasionally kind of have phone sex, whenever they REALLY couldn’t stand the distance any longer, but being able to touch Niall again, and be touched by him in return… there was nothing that compared. Especially not after such a long time apart.

“Because the floor would be really uncomfortable…” Niall half whispered against Liam’s burning lips, not making any movement though as if he wanted to actually go to the bedroom, so Liam used the chance to keep on snogging him instead, only for a little bit. “You’re so needy… “

“Needy?” Now Liam couldn’t help but laugh again, letting his forehead rest against his boyfriend’s as he brushed their noses together. “I’ve not kissed you in way too long… “

“Agreed… do you wanna shower?” Well, what a way to kill the mood. 

“I… I don’t necessarily have to, but if I smell bad then-“

“No, just because I kinda still wanted to take a shower as well.” It took a moment or two for Liam to actually get it, but when he did, his stomach did a bit of a flip. They had never done that before really, like actually get serious in the shower and Niall’s shower wasn’t that big, but… it’d work somehow. “But we don’t have to, we can also just go lie in bed.”

“No, let’s shower.” Liam quickly decided, making the younger man chuckle right before shutting him up with yet another kiss. 

They had a hard time parting, but Liam definitely was being even more clumsy taking off his shoes and jacket while Niall was just watching him kinda fondly, but still laughing at him. Not that Liam minded. 

He did take the time to actually put his bag in Niall’s bedroom, but he quickly wrapped his arm around Niall’s middle to keep him from going to sort something out in the living room “real quick”, gently pulling him with him instead. “We’ll do that tomorrow.”

“You’re so bossy.” Niall joked, but he easily went with Liam to the bathroom, a cheeky grin on his face. “I kinda like it.”

“Kinda?” Liam asked, amused, but already taking off his shirt before they had even fully entered the bathroom, shrugging when Niall was watching him with his eyebrow pulled up. “I’d have to take it off anyways if we shower.”

“I know, but I kinda wanted to do that.” Oh.

“… should I put it back on?” The older man offered, which only made Niall laugh though as he came back to wrap his arms around Liam once more, around his middle this time, pecking his lips. 

“No, but you can help me with mine.” Liam definitely didn’t have to be told twice.

It wasn’t actually that romantic to kinda undress a bit hectically in front of each other, it was more amusing also because Niall’s bathroom was kinda small and everything, and by the time they had actually gotten in the shower, Liam wasn’t that sure anymore whether it had been a good idea or not. 

“This is… tighter than I thought.” Niall started, but he was also keeping himself pressed as close against Liam as possible even though they would have still been able to have distance between them. If they had wanted to, but they didn’t. 

“Kinda. We’ll make it work.” Liam promised because now he really wanted to do this, not really thinking when he turned on the water without warning the younger man, making him yelp. “Oops, sorry, it’s a bit cold.”

“You’ve used this shower like a hundred times.” The younger man sounded half shocked, half amused when he held on tighter to Liam, probably because he was cold now while the older man tried to actually regulate the temperature of the water. 

“Sorry, you were distracting me.” Which was kinda true, Niall was so damn close and all this snogging had gotten Liam half hard and they were both naked and anyways, they hadn’t done anything in too long. “Better now?”

“Maybe, if you kiss me again.” Niall forgave him easily, and Liam just smiled before doing what he had been asked, the now warm water pouring over them as they picked up where they had left off before. 

It was kinda easy to forget about how little space they had because they didn’t wanna be apart anyways, and Liam kinda forgot the whole purpose of a shower while exploring Niall’s mouth, his lips and his bare body, somehow never getting enough of touching or kissing him. He was trying to hold back so they could take it slow despite how late it was, but Liam was kinda a bit too desperate for that anyways. And Niall didn’t seem to mind his eagerness.

“Is this gonna work?” The younger man voiced his concern when they broke apart for just a moment, breathing heavily against Liam’s lips, the water making everything even messier.

“I think so… depends what you wanna do.” Liam honestly didn’t mind, he just wanted to be close to Niall in any shape or form and make him feel good and just be with him. 

“Well… “ Niall started, laughing a bit breathlessly against Liam’s mouth before leaning his head back just a little, his fingers playing with Liam’s now wet hair, gently tugging a bit on it. “If we’re already risking our lives doing it in the shower, I think we should do it properly.”

“I’ll try my best.” Liam joked, but now that Niall had said it out loud, he kinda got even more impatient so he quickly pushed their lips back together, slowly letting his hands glide down Niall’s back until he could cup his ass, pull him in even closer against his own body. They had both gotten hard and all the touching and moving around in an attempt not to slip wasn’t exactly helping Liam with trying to hold back, but he really wanted to just focus on Niall right now.

They had no lube with them in the shower and it had been a while since they had had sex because Liam had been gone, so he was grateful for the water at least when he snuck one finger between the younger’s arse cheeks, feeling him jerk a bit against him as he rubbed over his hole, not pushing in just yet because he was afraid of hurting him. 

Liam made sure to kiss Niall deeply in order to distract him, pushing their groins together as he slowly attempted to work a finger inside him all while trying to be aware of the younger’s reactions, just to make sure he wasn’t hurting him. Judging by the noises escaping Niall’s mouth and how tightly he was pulling on Liam’s hair, pressing all up into his space, he was experiencing anything besides pain. 

The water actually worked out slightly better than Liam would have thought, but he was also going extra slow and gentle and he definitely couldn’t blame Niall when he broke the kiss just to tell him that he was ready. Liam didn’t stop thrusting his fingers inside of him immediately, only when Niall let out a moan that sounded slightly too panicked, momentarily resting his forehead against the older’s shoulder. 

“Think it’d be easier if you turned around… “ Liam mumbled as he slowly retracted his fingers, turning his head to briefly kiss the side of Niall’s, rubbing his hands up and down his back. 

“Okay... one second.” He obviously needed to catch his breath a bit at first, so Liam just let him, continuing to caress his wet skin, trying to be patient.

When Niall lifted his head again, his face was red, probably both from Liam having fingered him open but also from all the water they were wasting right now. He didn’t say anything, just kissed Liam one more time, softly, before turning around and Liam kept his hands on him, hugging Niall from behind before doing anything at all and pulling him back against his chest. “I love you… “

“I love you too, Li… “ Niall whispered back, barely audible with the water running, but Liam heard him, leaning down to press his lips against the younger’s shoulder, slowly kissing up the side of his neck as he moved one hand lower. “If you keep this up we won’t ever find out if this works… “

“Hmm… “ Was all Liam made as he slowly wrapped his hand around the younger’s erection, not really moving it that much but it was enough to increase Niall’s breathing as he let his head fall back against Liam’s shoulder while the older man was still busy kissing whatever part of him he could reach.

Eventually, Liam did decide that he couldn’t wait any longer, and he had to admit that it was kinda really hot to have Niall leaning against the wall in front of him, a bit forward so that Liam would have it easier to push into him. Liam went slow yet again, also because he didn’t want Niall to slip because everything was wet and stuff, so he made sure to keep his hands on him once he was bottoming out. 

“Okay? Are you slipping?” Liam asked, with the calmest voice he could manage. Niall was almost completely backed up against the wall to make it easier and Liam was holding onto his hips, kissing the back of his head and then his shoulder, only slowly circling his hips for now.

“’m good, I’m not slipping... this feels different.” It did, but not in a bad way, at least from Liam’s point of view.

“Do you wanna stop?” He really didn’t want to, but obviously he would have immediately pulled out had Niall wanted that.

“No, I like it… you can move, I’ll be fine.” The younger man reassured him, but as always, Liam still took his time and didn’t just go for it.

It did feel different, also because they couldn’t look at each other or kiss, but it wasn’t at all bad despite the risk of slipping and the tightness of the space they had. The last thing was kinda hot to be honest, because they kinda HAD to be this close and fucking into Niall from behind like that, while standing, was something Liam had never done, so he felt like it only pushed him towards the edge even quicker.

“Fuck… you feel so good… “ Liam half choked out once he started to build a rhythm, kinda pulling Niall back a bit when he rocked back into him and it was _so_ good he had a hard time slowing himself down.

“You t-too… don’t stop… harder… “ Niall moaned after an accidental harder thrust, so Liam tried to hit the same angle again, but also tried not to go TOO hard because he didn’t want to squish Niall against the wall or something. Judging by the noises Niall was making though, he probably wouldn’t have cared either way.

Despite Liam slowing down once a while and refraining from jerking Niall off at the same time as thrusting into him, he couldn’t make it last any longer than a couple minutes. They had been waiting so long to finally be together again, be intimate, there was no way they could’ve held back. So Liam just stopped trying when he could tell that Niall was close, instead increasing his thrusts and getting a hand in between Niall and the wall to messily jerk him off at the same time.

The younger man came quickly, moaning Liam’s name as the older man fucked him through it, squeezing so tightly around his length that Liam couldn’t hold back any longer either and allowed himself to let go, fill Niall up. Somehow it felt more intense than the last time Liam could remember, but probably not because of the shower but because they had been apart for so long. His ears were kinda ringing when he slowly came down from his high, immediately hugging Niall again and pulling him against him as they caught their breath. 

“Fuck… I didn’t think it’d be this good… “ Niall breathed out, his chest clearly heaving and Liam wanted to look at him, but he didn’t wanna fully pull out of him yet, wanted to drag this moment out a bit longer where they were still this close, physically and emotionally.

“I’m just this good… “ Liam joked, laughing at himself while the younger man just snorted, leaning back against him with almost all his weight. “Next time we should try my car.”

“Are you gonna reveal all your kinks to me now after this?” The younger man sounded amused, turning his head a bit so he could half look at Liam over his shoulder, reaching out to cup his cheek as he kissed the corner of his mouth. “I don’t know if I wanna have sex in a car… “

“It’d be so hot.” Liam actually truly meant it, and he could tell Niall knew that because he seemed to consider it, his eyes flickering down to the older’s lips. “We could also just try my bathtub first.”

“We should… kiss me.” So Liam did, though the angle wasn’t that good and they should’ve probably washed themselves for real, but that could wait.

Showering together turned out to be really nice in general, like, apart from having sex of course, and they wasted so much time and water getting themselves clean and touching and snogging that Liam ended up getting Niall off again, with his hand this time. And he didn’t complain when the younger man decided to blow him when they had finally made it to bed.

They stayed up talking for way longer than they should’ve, and Niall talked Liam into massaging his back by pretending it hurt from what they had done in the shower, and when did finally try to sleep, it was surely after 3 in the morning or something. At least Liam was actually tired enough to sleep by then, and though he had to admit he had also gotten kinda hungry, he didn’t really care when he felt himself drifting off with Niall wrapped up tightly in his arms. There was truly nothing better than this.

 

\--------------

 

May wasn’t sure if she liked sleeping over at her grandparents’ house too much. She had done it before, but not in a while and somehow it felt a little bit strange and she somehow wished she could’ve been with her dad instead, and be allowed to stay up until Liam came home. Had she been at home though, she could’ve probably fallen asleep a lot quicker though.

May had her favorite plush toy with her, and the bed was comfortable and she had a nightlight on, but she still didn’t manage to fall asleep for a really, really long time. She knew she wasn’t allowed to get up and play or go and wake her grandparents unless something was wrong, and nothing was wrong, she just couldn’t sleep.

At one point, May decided that she definitely would never be able to fall asleep, and she was so bored that she decided to get out of bed anyways. Maybe her grandparents wouldn’t mind, they were a lot nicer now than they had been before and they also talked a lot more to her dad and the girl liked that they got along now. Maybe they could also meet Liam and then they would like him too, they always asked a lot about him and May didn’t feel bad anymore about talking about him because after all her dad had said she shouldn’t worry and that he just didn’t want her to talk about him at school and strangers. And why would she not be allowed to answer her grandparents when they asked questions? She couldn’t lie to _them_ , right? 

May knew that the room she was sleeping in used to be her mom’s room when she had still been alive. It was a little bit creepy maybe, but May didn’t think too much about that because she had never met her mom and her dad had never talked a lot about her and neither had her grandparents. It probably still made them sad, so May never asked. 

Now that she couldn’t sleep though, her curiosity took over a little. Of course it was rude to go through other peoples’ things, but it was her own mom’s things and no one had ever said May wasn’t allowed to look at it. There really only was one closet anyways, with a few clothes and other things, like pictures and stuff. 

May had seen a lot of pictures of her mom, and she thought that she had been really pretty, but that they didn’t really look alike. Now when she found some of her when she had been a child though, May kinda changed her mind a little bit.

It definitely wasn’t making her tired to look at her mom’s old things, but she didn’t really care about that anyways. In fact, May attempted to get to a box a little higher up in the closet, but when she pulled on it while standing on her tip toes, the whole thing just went flying to the ground with a bang, luckily not hitting her but still giving her quite a shock. 

And it had also made quite a noise. 

May was still busy collecting all the pictures that had fallen out of the box when suddenly the door opened, giving her an even bigger shock than the box before.

“What are you doing, love? Why aren’t you sleeping?” Her grandmother looked very tired, but also confused, and May felt caught, so she froze a bit.

“Umm… I can’t sleep.” She told the woman because it was true, but she was a little bit scared she’d get in trouble. She would have at home. 

“Oh, love, you could’ve come and woken me up if you can’t sleep.” Luckily her grandmother sounded anything but angry as she came into the room, closing the door behind herself as she went to sit on the end of the bed, May still just standing there with photographs scattered around her. “Were you looking at your mom’s things?”

“Yeah… and then the box fell down. I’m sorry, I’m gonna clean it all up, I promise.” The girl quickly started to collect photos again and putting them back in the box, a little messily but she was trying to do it fast. 

“It’s alright, I was just a little worried something happened because I heard the box fall. You don’t need to put them back in neatly, they were already messy before. I’ll help you.” And so she did, both of them sitting down on the floor to sort out the photos and May felt herself relax once she was sure she wasn’t going to get in any trouble. 

“Can I ask you something?” She started after a few moments, after having looked at quite a few pictures.

“Of course sweetheart, anything.” Her grandmother promised, a smile on her face when May looked at her, feeling more comfortable.

“Why does no one ever talk about my mom?” May asked while looking down, a little afraid her grandma would get upset when she didn’t answer immediately. “Sorry if that’s making you sad.”

“It’s not, you don’t have to apologize, love… you know, it’s a bit difficult sometimes to talk about that, even if it’s been such a long time.” That made sense to May so she nodded a bit, looking at one of the pictures she was still holding in her hands. “Does your dad ever talk about her?”

“No… not really.” He answered whenever May asked something, but she didn’t do it very often. “What was she like? Was she like me when she was as old as me?”

“A little bit, yeah. You also look a bit like her… see?” Her grandmother had picked up one of the photos to show May and the little girl nodded, her eyes getting stuck on another photo still lying on the floor. 

“Is that my mom with my dad?” May asked after she had picked up the picture she was really interested in. 

“It is.” Her grandmother confirmed, and May looked at her for just a second but she did notice that she wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Daddy looks different.” He also had blonde hair, and May wasn’t sure but she thought she had seen a few pictures of her dad like this at her other grandparents’ house. But never with her mom. “Did my dad and my mom love each other? They look happy in the picture.”

“I don’t know if they did. They were more like friends.” Oh.

“But I thought adults only have kids when they love each other a lot.” At least that’s what May had thought, she didn’t know a lot about that yet because her dad had said he’d explain it when she was older. Or that she should wait until she learned it at school. “I thought having babies has something to do with making love.”

“It does… what do you know about that?” Whenever May said that, everyone always got really weird and she didn’t know why because it wasn’t a bad thing… or was it?

“Not a lot. One time I woke up because I thought my dad and Liam were making love but then I thought that they can’t because they’re both boys. But my dad said it’s not always about babies and now I don’t understand.” Adult things were so complicated. 

“Well, he’s right about that, but maybe you should ask him again when you’re a bit older, hm?” How old was the older everyone told May to wait for? “Do they wake you up a lot?”

“No… just sometimes. But it sounded like somebody got hurt and then I walked over and Liam said he was just watching a video on his phone and forgot to make it quiet… “ May explained, shrugging, because she didn’t really care a lot about that right now. “If my mom was still here do you think she and my dad would be married?”

“I don’t think so, love… they didn’t always get along that well.” Oh. “Have you never asked your dad these things?”

“No, I don’t think he likes talking about her… do you think my mom would’ve liked Liam?” Why would she not have? May didn’t think there was anyone who couldn’t like Liam… well, unless they didn’t know him. 

“I don’t know. Maybe.” That sounded a bit like a no, so May didn’t ask any more about Liam, looking down at the picture again. 

“If my mom and my dad didn’t love each other and didn’t want to marry and my mom was still here… would I live with her then? Some of my friends live with their moms and then they visit their dads only on the weekends.” Which sounded quite terrible to May because her dad was the best, but she was still curious.

“Probably, yes. But I don’t know what would’ve happened, love, it’s a bit complicated.” Everything always seemed to be complicated when May started asking adults questions. 

“Okay… “ May nodded a bit, trying to be okay with that answer but she had already thought of a new question anyways. “Do you not like my dad?”

“Why would you think that?” Her grandmother sounded very surprised, so May shrugged a little.

“You never really talk to him a lot… and I don’t see you as often as my other grandparents… “ May also didn’t think that her dad liked them a lot, but she didn’t say that out loud. “But I like it better now, I like when everyone gets along.”

“You know… your dad just spends more time with his own mom and dad, that’s why you see them more often. And he also never talked a lot to us after your mom passed away.” Oh. 

“But… but he was sad when she was gone, right?” If they had been more like friends, her dad would have still liked her, right?

“I think so.” Her grandmother told her, but she didn’t sound so sure and May was again confused, but she didn’t keep on asking. 

“I wish my mom was still here as well. Everyone has a mom and I don’t.” Well, not EVERYONE, and May knew that of course, but she meant all of her friends. “If my dad marries Liam, is Liam gonna be my second dad?”

“You have to ask your dad that, love… do you wanna have two dads?” Did she? May shrugged, because she didn’t think it would make much difference because Liam always spent so much time with them already when he didn’t have to be somewhere else and she was used to just calling him Liam. Sometimes she had thought about if she would ever be allowed to call him dad as well, but it was okay the way it was. “Or would you rather have your dad and your mom?”

“I want my dad, and my mom. And Liam. And uncle Harry and Zayn. And Louis.” Had she forgotten anyone? May didn’t think so.

“Who is Louis again? I don’t think I know a lot about him. Or about your uncle Harry and Zayn.” This time when May talked, she didn’t feel bad about it, because her dad had only ever said not to talk too much about Liam, right?

So she told her grandmother about Louis and the studio and how he was Liam’s friend, and then about Harry and Zayn and whatever came to her mind really and by the end of it, she eventually started to at least feel a little tiny bit tired, even though her grandmother still asked a lot of other questions when she had already gotten back in bed. 

Before she left, she told May she could keep whatever picture of her mom she wanted to have, and that she could always ask about her whenever she wanted, so May felt a lot better finally going to sleep that night.

 

\------------------------

 

Niall was a little bit concerned with how quiet and normal things were the next few days. It was terrible saying goodbye to Liam again of course, but also, his tour was slowly coming to an end so they’d survive these last few weeks somehow. And then hopefully, Liam would decide to just stay in London.

Niall had to admit that he was kinda starting to hope May’s grandparents had really suddenly become different people and changed their approach. To be quite honest, he should have maybe been annoyed by how often they suddenly wanted to spend time with May, even if just for a couple hours, but he really, really wasn’t, because it was somehow very helpful for his ever changing work schedule. And also a lot more fun for May than having to come along to the studio or to his guitar sessions, or having to play alone whenever Niall and Harry were working.

Why couldn’t it have been this way all along? Why had they waited until now to actually try and mend things between them? Like, yeah, maybe Niall wasn’t innocent in all this, he could have definitely tried harder as well over the couple years, could have attempted a somewhat friendly relationship with them, but that was no reason to threaten him like that, was it?

It was a Monday, a few days before Halloween, and May was at her friends’ Halloween party, so Niall used the time to do some grocery shopping after the weekend, still rushing a little bit though because he wanted to still be able to call Liam later and not immediately have to hang up again. 

Walking up the stairs of his building with literally the heaviest bag full of groceries ever, he almost didn’t even notice two people sitting on the steps in front of his front door, so Niall almost dropped everything before his brain started working again. And he wasn’t any less confused when he realized who it was. 

“Um… hi? What’s going on?” Seeing Harry and Zayn together by themselves was truly the only thing that could have still surprised Niall at this point. “Are you guys… okay?”

“Something happened.” Zayn blurted out as they both got up, and Niall wondered how long they had been here already, waiting for him, and whether they had actually talked beforehand because… did they even have each other’s phone numbers? 

“What happened?” Niall asked, more confused with every second passing, his stomach slowly filling with panic though because neither of them would be here right now if it weren’t serious. _Especially_ not together.

“It’s about-“

“It’s an intervention.” Harry interrupted, not allowing Niall to ask any more questions though. “We should probably discuss this inside, because we’re actually not supposed to tell you any of this at all.”

Suddenly Niall wasn’t so sure anymore if having to carry all these groceries had been the worst thing that had happened to him today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys <3
> 
> thank you for the lovely feedback! i really hope you enjoyed this chapter too, things are definitely going to go down soon, i hope youre all prepared! or not, because we all know how it will end anyways :p
> 
> if anyone wants to rant about the last game of thrones episode with me then feel free! but put a spoiler warning for other people haha! 
> 
> also, if you have a fic idea/wish or whatever that youve always wanted somebody to write then let me know as well because this fic is going to end at some point and then idk yet what im going to do. i know i always ask this question but im just really curious and i know barely anyone still writes niam so id love to write something a lot of people actually want!
> 
> have a great weekend everyone!! dont forget to vote if youre old enough and a citizen of the european union!! love you guys <3


	22. Chapter 22

“You’re scaring me.“ Niall admitted after a moment, letting go of the keys though when Harry reached out for them to let them all into Niall’s apartment. “What’s going on?”

“Where is May?” Zayn ignored the question as he followed Harry, even before Niall had entered himself, the groceries killing his arm now. 

“At a Halloween party, I have to pick her up in a few hours… why?” Oh god, was this about her?

“’cos it wouldn’t be good if she were around or you’d have to leave before we talk.” Okay, this was just starting to become scarier and scarier. 

“Talk about what exactly?” Niall kept asking because no one had given him an answer yet, like, he wasn’t even thinking anymore about how these two had teamed up to come here but that alone was a sign of how serious they were. 

Harry and Zayn shared a look once they were all inside and Niall honestly thought he was dreaming all this. 

“Guys-“

“Let’s unpack your groceries first.” Harry decided, taking the bag out of Niall’s hand and the other man wanted to complain but then he thought he also didn’t want everything to go bad. Because who knew in what state he’d be in once these two had told him what they were about to.

So they all helped, which kinda bothered Niall slightly because his fridge and cupboards had an order and Harry and Zayn were just putting things wherever, but he tried to keep it together for now and not complain because he had a feeling, this wouldn’t matter in a few minutes anymore anyways.

Once they had all sat down in the living room a couple minutes later, Niall honestly thought about calling Liam so he could be a part of the conversation over the phone, but then he remembered that he was asleep. Also, it didn’t actually feel as if any of the other two would have wanted him to actually do that. 

“So?” Niall asked, kinda nervously playing with his phone in his hands, looking from Harry to Zayn and back. They seemed slightly unsure of who would do the talking, but it was Zayn who cleared his throat.

“So… “ He started, and before Niall could get even more impatient, he finally spit it out. “They came to question me. After work.”

“Wait… what? Who?” What?

“May’s grandparents and-“

“Are you joking?!” Niall’s mouth immediately dropped open, his brain emptying somehow as he tried to process this because… wait, how did they even know Zayn?! 

“I wish I were, but no. They also had some guy with them, their lawyer or something. It was… weird.” Zayn explained, and Niall didn’t interrupt but simply because he couldn’t think straight anymore as his entire body was filling with panic and he froze on the spot. “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t wanna call you up and tell you because I didn’t wanna freak you out and they kinda made it sound like it was a secret or whatever, so… so I called Harry, ‘cos he knows about all this legal stuff and because you’re our friend and… Niall, they are being serious about this whole thing. They want May, and I don’t think they’ll stop at anything to get her.”

“But… but they’ve not said anything the past couple weeks and it’s actually all started to become rather normal and May enjoys spending time with them a lot more and… what did they want from you?” It was kinda obvious, really, but Niall just didn’t wanna believe it. 

“They asked a lot of stuff, like how often I babysit May, if I think you’re a good father, things about Liam, about your past, about everything really. As I said, it was strange, and I tried to be vague and eventually I said I don’t wanna say anything. And Harry said I should’ve just walked away because it’s actually not legal for them to do that but like… it was so unexpected.” This was the actual end, Niall was sure of it.

“I have to call Li-“

“No, don’t.” Harry and Zayn both spoke at the same time, keeping Niall from doing anything at all on his phone because they made him flinch before Harry continued. “Ni, listen. They got too much already, I’m pretty sure they’ve been questioning May a ton whenever she’s with them. And she probably didn’t think anything of it because they’re her grandparents and she’s got no idea what’s going on. The fact that they went to talk to Zayn and everything they said... they seem pretty damn certain they got this in the bag.”

“Maybe they just wanna frighten me and make me think that and in reality-“

“I really don’t think so, Ni, I’m sorry. Even if they were it’d be a stupid risk to take.” True, but what else was Niall supposed to do now?! “You should talk to one of the lawyers we work with, I already asked around, they’d help and don’t worry about the costs right now.”

“What about Liam’s lawyer?” To be fair, Niall had never met him in real life, but still. How would he pay a lawyer on his own? 

“It doesn’t make you look very good in all this, to let Liam pay for a lawyer for you and… everyone knows it’s _his_ lawyer. It’s… it makes you look even more guilty.” So… why exactly did this suddenly sound like a murder case?

“So what do I do now? I have to tell Liam. Did you tell Louis?” It didn’t seem like it and Harry also immediately shook his head and Niall’s heart kinda dropped to his pants a little.

“No, it’s actually got nothing to do with him at all. And it only happened a few hours ago as well. Also… I love Louis, but he’s Liam’s best friend. I don’t think it’d be smart to pull him into this.” Except, they already had. 

“Louis told me a while ago that I should prepare myself for the worst. As the only one.” Niall recalled out loud, the conversation now making him shutter again as he thought about how Louis had told him how journalists would be out for blood when all this got public.

“I think he was right.” Harry started, slowly, looking at Niall and hesitating, as if he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to say this, but then he did anyways. “I think you and Liam should take a break.”

“A _break?_ ” Niall echoed, a little perplex because this was really not what he would have expected to hear right now. Or ever. “I can’t do this, I love him, I can’t just go behind his back and break up with him without telling him why, and we didn’t do anything wrong, how are they gonna win a case over guardianship just because I’m dating Liam and-“

“Ni, it doesn’t matter if you _think_ you did nothing wrong. I don’t know what they know, or what they dug up or made up, it’s about how they convey the information and how it makes you look in the end. They got money, they got lawyers, they’ve got May suddenly enjoy spending time with them and telling them whatever they want her to, they’ve had actual years to plan this. You’re underprepared, and the only thing you can do right now to help yourself is to take away their biggest argument against you. And that’s Liam and your relationship to him.” He was right, and Niall knew it, but he didn’t want to believe it, so instead, he started crying. “Ni-“

“No, don’t.” Niall stopped him, actually not even wanting him to continue right now, pour more salt into the wound. “I have to talk to Liam about it. I can’t just… break up with him.”

Again, Harry and Zayn shared a look, and it was obvious that this was why they had both come here together, because they had known Niall would lose it once they brought this up. But how could he have not freaked out?!

“I can’t do this.” Niall repeated when neither of them said anything, suddenly feeling a little dizzy. 

“It’s not breaking up, it’s just a break.” Zayn tried to comfort him, even though it was clearly useless because they all knew it WAS breaking up. And what choice did Niall really have? It’s what Louis had already told him to prepare for, that once it really came down to it, Niall would obviously choose his daughter over Liam. 

“I still have to talk to him and tell him everything.” Niall insisted, and eventually, Harry just nodded a bit, as if Niall had needed his permission or something. “He’s coming home in a few days… how much time do you think I have?”

“I mean… seeing as he’s not actually here right now and everyone knows he’s in Asia and not with you anyways… I guess you could wait until he’s back.” Harry told him eventually, as if it was some kinda compromise, as if he could dictate when Niall would end the relationship.

So Niall just nodded, neither of them speaking a word for a little bit because Niall simply had nothing left to say. He didn’t know if this was the right thing to do, he didn’t know if he would even be able to do it, if he’d regret it, or what would happen, and all of a sudden, he started wishing none of this would have ever happened. If he had never met Liam, never fallen in love with him, it would have never gotten this far and he wouldn’t have gotten his heart broken in the process, and his entire life flipped upside down.

 

\-----------------------

 

Liam could sense that something was up with Niall, but it was hard to be sure because they didn’t have a lot of time to talk on the phone the days before Liam came back home, after Halloween. He’d have to leave one more time before his tour was over and he’d stay home for good, but suddenly Liam wasn’t so sure anymore whether he was supposed to look forward to that or not. Or if Niall was looking forward to it. 

The thing was, usually Niall always wanted to immediately see him when he got back because they missed each other, and suddenly Liam felt as if he was the only one actually eager to see the younger man. As if Niall had suddenly decided that actually, he hadn’t missed Liam that much anyways.

Then again, Liam knew he was stressed and the situation also wasn’t ideal, so he decided not to get too much into it. If something bad had happened, surely Niall would have told him, maybe he was just exhausted from work and everything, which would’ve been quite understandable. Also, Liam didn’t want to be pushy or anything, he wanted to give Niall his space, even if he was desperate to help in whatever way he could. 

But Liam had to realize that maybe sometimes he wasn’t the biggest help.

 

_To Niall 19:05  
Hi, I just wanted to tell you im home now so whenever you have time is fine for me :) I cant wait to see you <3_

 

Okay, maybe Liam WAS being slightly clingy, but also… usually they always immediately saw each other, and now Liam was home by himself, where he actually hadn’t been in quite a while, not quite knowing what to do with himself. Mostly because he was slightly worried about what was going on with Niall.

Since the younger man didn’t text back, also not when Liam went around the kitchen pretending to keep himself busy before realizing he had no food because it would’ve gone bad in the meantime, Liam was forced to actually unpack his things. Or at least wash some of them, even though he wasn’t quite sure why because it’s not like he’d be home for very long. 

He used to actually not really wash his own stuff, also because he didn’t always wear individual pieces that often, but ever since he was with Niall so much, Liam’s view on a lot of things had changed. So doing that also didn’t really help him to forget about Niall, and he also didn’t WANT to, he just wanted to know what was going on, whether Niall was okay. Who knew what May’s grandparents had done in the past few days.

Honestly, at some point Liam did get a little scared when he didn’t hear from Niall, but right when he was about to call him and thought about driving over just to make sure nothing had happened to him, the younger man did finally text back.

 

_Niall 21:17  
Sorry, today was crazy… may is already asleep, you can come over whenever you want_

 

And that was it, he hadn’t written anything more than that but Liam had to admit he only really thought about that when he was already sitting in his car. Then again, Niall’s day had been stressful, so it would’ve been really selfish to expect that he’d text Liam certain things or have time just because Liam was back home. 

Liam kinda made it over to Niall’s place in record time either way. He used his own key so he wouldn’t wake May by having to ring the bell, feeling a little nervous but mostly just desperate to finally be with Niall again.

He wasn’t waiting by the door, which made sense seeing as he hadn’t known when exactly the older man would arrive, but he did get up from the couch immediately upon Liam entering the apartment. Despite everything Liam had worried about before in the car, that quickly passed as soon as he saw Niall coming over to him.

“God, I missed you so much.” Liam let out half a laugh right before wrapping his arms around Niall, the younger man not saying anything at all and instead just kissing Liam quite desperately. His arms around Liam’s neck were so tight that Liam couldn’t pull back before realizing that Niall wanted to keep on kissing him, so of course he didn’t mind that in any way. It was just really nice to know that he seemed to still be excited to see Liam. The older man had probably over reacted a bit before. “I love you… “

“I love you too… “ Niall whispered back after a second before closing the small gap between them once more, his fingers so tight in Liam’s hair that it almost hurt a bit.

When they did pull apart and Niall let Liam take off his shoes and jacket and everything, Liam somehow sensed that something was still off. “Is everything okay?”

“I just had a really stressful day, I’m sorry.” The younger man apologized immediately, his smile looking just a tiny bit forced though when he came to hug Liam. “How was the flight and everything?”

“Good, it went by really quick, I slept a lot, so… “ So he wasn’t really tired right now, which was probably for the best. Liam really didn’t wanna talk about himself though. “… are sure you’re alright? Do you wanna talk about today?”

“Not really.” Niall admitted, letting out a quick laugh that sounded anything but amused though and Liam held on tighter, pressing his lips against the younger’s clothed shoulder when he felt Niall clinging to him. 

So they just stayed like this for a while, holding onto each other and enjoying the other’s presence and Liam wanted to speak up at multiple points but he never did. Something had happened, he just knew it, and he couldn’t force Niall to tell him, but they’d have to talk about it eventually if it was making Niall feel bad.

“Babe… “ Liam started, rubbing the younger’s back slowly. “Talk to me.”

Niall didn’t answer, he just sucked in a breath and Liam had a feeling that he was close to tears for some reason, but the younger man was holding on so tightly to him that he couldn’t pull away to look at his face. 

“Ni… “ Liam tried again, now genuinely starting to get worried. He KNEW something was up now, but he didn’t know how to be the most sensitive about it without being pushy. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing… I miss you.” Was all Niall answered, really quietly, and Liam felt a tuck to his heart, holding on even tighter to him. 

“I’m right here… “ The older man mumbled now again really wanting to look at Niall, but Niall never loosened his grip so Liam didn’t either. “I’ll only have to go back one last time and then I’m gonna stay home.”

“I know… “ Niall whispered, by the end letting out something that could’ve as well been a quiet sniff and now Liam really panicked. “I love you so much… “

“I love you too, Ni… are you crying?” Liam just HAD to ask now because he needed to know, and this time when he leaned back a little, Niall actually let him. 

There were a few tear tracks on his face, his eyes were wet and he was definitely crying, but not sobbing or anything, but maybe that was just making everything even worse. Seeing him this way was killing Liam.

“Baby, what happened?” Liam asked as he cupped the younger’s face, wiping his thumbs across Niall’s skin as the younger man took a breath, closing his eyes for a moment as he leaned into Liam’s touch. 

“We need to talk… “ Niall whispered, still with his eyes closed, and Liam felt a shudder going through his body. “And I don’t want to… “

“About what? Nialler, what happened?” Liam needed to know right now at this second or he would literally burst. 

The younger man waited for another moment before blinking his eyes open again, staring at Liam before kissing him again, maybe to distract him or something, because it felt quite like it, so Liam only kissed back for a moment. There were more tears shimmering in the younger’s eyes now and when he spoke up, he actually sounded desperate. “I don’t wanna do this.”

“Do what?” Liam was seriously going to go insane or something, he was terrified as well as nervous and pretty much any other negative emotion he could have possibly felt right now.

Niall reached out to take one of Liam’s hands into his that was still resting against his face, not saying anything but instead pulling him over to the couch with him so they could sit down, all while avoiding Liam’s eyes. He had to take a few shaky breaths, wipe his face with his free hand, but he kept holding onto Liam’s hand and the older man tried not to loosen it in the meantime or rush Niall even more. 

Something terrible must have happened or Niall wouldn’t be acting this way. What if… what if May wasn’t even here? But Niall would have told Liam if something regarding this had happened, right?!

“Something happened few days ago… “ The younger man started, looking down at their intertwined hands and Liam opened his mouth to keep on pushing, but he forced himself to shut up instead. “I came home from the store and… and May was at her Halloween party. And, um… Zayn and Harry were here, waiting in front of my door.”

Liam didn’t ask, because he was pretty sure Niall would continue in a second anyways, after taking a few more shaky breaths, clearly blinking back more tears. There was nothing more Liam wanted to do right now than to take Niall into his arms, but he didn’t, he just squeezed his hand, not being able to offer any more comfort than that.

“Zayn told me that, um… that May’s grandparents came to question him, after work. With their lawyer or something. And-“

“Are you serious?! That’s not even legal. How do they even know him?! Why didn’t you tell me, we should’ve immediately called my lawyer and-“

“Can I finish?” Niall interrupted, not in an angry way or anything, in fact, the way his voice sounded, kinda monotone, made Liam shut up even more quickly. On the inside though, his thoughts were literally running wild. “Zayn called Harry to ask for advice and… and then they both came over to tell me. We all agree that they must’ve been questioning May whenever she was with them and… and that they probably dug up some stuff or made something up or I don’t even know, but… they seem pretty certain they will win this case. Once it is a case. And it’s going to.”

“Did you talk to them? And who is _we_?” And why was Liam only hearing about all this NOW?! “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t, Li, I-“ Niall broke off then, taking a very deep sigh before finally looking at Liam again, his face even sadder than before, and when he spoke up, he sounded kinda dead inside. “I got a new lawyer, someone from the law firm me and Harry work at. And I’ve not talked to them anymore, but it’s obvious that they’re about to move more quickly soon. I’m not letting them have May anymore if they call, but-“

“Wait, wait. Why did you get a new lawyer?” What was even happening?! “Niall, you know how dangerous this is, right?”

“I know.” Niall told him, so firmly but also with the saddest expression on his face that Liam had ever seen. “I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t.” Liam answered automatically, still kinda feeling as if he was missing am important piece of information or something. “Did you ask May what she told them?”

“No, I don’t wanna pull her into this and I doubt she can remember it all in detail. And it doesn’t matter anyways, we gotta assume they know everything and twist it into whatever they want.” Made sense, but also… 

“You need to ask her, Ni, I know you don’t want her to worry about any of this, but if you don’t know what she even told them… they could just _want_ you to think they know something important. They might just wanna scare you.” Then again, risking it all and going to talk to Zayn and… what had they even wanted from him? 

“Maybe, but… “ Niall started, again looking away from Liam again, blinking back more tears and Liam didn’t know what to do or what to think and it was only when Niall spoke up again that he realized what he had been missing. “Everyone agrees that- the biggest argument they have is… is our relationship. It’s what started this all and… Li, I don’t know what to do.”

“You… “ Liam started, before slowly drifting off, his mouth hanging a little open when he met Niall’s eyes once more, the younger man squeezing his hand even tighter now, looking desperate. “You wanna break up with me?”

“No, I don’t want to break up with you, I-I- I j-just… I d-don’t know what to d-do… “ Niall had started bawling now, his voice breaking but Liam couldn’t even concentrate because he honestly thought he’d pass out or something. This couldn’t be happening right now. 

“You don’t even know what they know, you’ve not asked May or spoken to them or-“

“It d-doesn’t m-matter... I-I… t-the only t-thing I c-can d-do… is to d-do w-what they l-least expect… “ He was right, and Liam knew it, he had known it all along, had tried to mentally prepare himself at times, but he just had never thought it’d actually come to this.

It was still no excuse for his reaction though. 

“And then what? We break up and they’re just gonna forget about it? They won’t believe you. And all of this already happened.” Liam wasn’t angry, but he could literally feel his heart breaking right then and there and the sadness washing over him didn’t let him talk or think clearly. He couldn’t lose Niall, he just couldn’t. “You could as well just lie and-“

“M-May would k-know a-and… Li… I c-can’t f-force her to l-lie to people f-forever… I j-just… I c-can’t do t-this a-anymore.” The younger man let out a shaky breath, still clinging to Liam’s hand even though the older man’s had gone limp as he struggled to process all this. “I don’t w-wanna do this.”

“But you are. You waited for me to come back just to break up with me? I only came back for you.” Liam was honestly going to go insane right now.

“Li-“ 

“No, don’t. Seriously, what good is this going to do? You’ve not even asked May what she told them, you never even spoke to them about this and why they confronted Zayn, but you think it’s going to change their minds if we break up? It already happened!” Honestly, the last thing Liam was thinking about right now was May sleeping, he knew he was being selfish and ignorant and whatever else, but his emotions were out of control right now.

“Can you p-please s-stop yelling?” Niall half choked out, clearly taken aback by Liam’s intense reaction but the older man didn’t even fully notice. “It’s t-the o-only thing I-I c-can d-do… Li, I c-can’t l-lose her… a-and… a-and if t-there’s a chance… I h-have to t-take it. I l-love you… I d-don’t wanna d-do this, b-but… I h-have t-to.”

“You literally don’t. We’ve got so many more options, but you didn’t even call me, you knew you were going to do this the past few days and you pretended as if everything was alright. Just because Harry and Zayn talked you into this and some lawyer and whoever else. Why did you not call me immediately? I’m not the villain, Niall, I’m your boyfriend.” Liam truly was hurt, over all of this, but it was still overshadowed by what Niall was trying to do. Or had already done. How was this happening?! “Or was.”

“I’m s-sorry… “ Niall was truly full on crying now, covering his face in his hands as Liam pulled his away, just staring at him, not knowing what to do or say. Hell, he didn’t even know what he truly felt, his emotions were all over the damn place. “I n-never… I n-never w-wanted for t-this t-to h-happen, b-but… I c-can’t l-lose h-her… I’m s-so s-sorry… m-maybe… m-maybe w-when t-this i-is o-over a-and-“

“Don’t. Please don’t say this right now.” If he was going to talk this way now, as if everything was already decided, then Liam was honestly going to lose it. And he was already pretty damn close. Had everyone been in on this the past couple days? Even Louis? Had Niall been talking with them all on how to break up with Liam the best way? “I can’t believe this.”

“L-Liam-“

“Daddy?” 

When Niall got interrupted, they both froze, Liam felt terrified all of a sudden when he saw May standing there in her pajamas, not knowing what to say right now while the younger man struggled to hastily wipe at his face, but it was way too late for that. They had talked way too loudly for her to stay asleep.

“Why are you crying?” May sounded tired, but also confused and scared as she came over, slowly and carefully, and Liam saw Niall faking a smile. 

“I-I… I just got s-something in my eye.” Niall struggled to lie, stretching his arms out towards May and Liam just watched, his brain feeling empty. “Sorry if we were t-too loud… “

“It’s okay… are you fighting?” The little girl asked, and Liam had NO idea what came over him, or whether he had been thinking anything at all when he didn’t let Niall speak and just blurted out with it.

“May, can I ask you something?” Liam started, and he SAW the panic rising on Niall’s face as he held May on his lap, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop the older man. “Do your grandparents ask a lot about me and your dad whenever you’re with them? And maybe also about your uncle Zayn and Louis?”

“Umm… “ May started, but by the look on her face despite the clear sleepiness written all across it, Liam already knew that she felt caught. “Sometimes… why?”

“Just because-“

“Liam, stop.” Niall’s voice sounded firm, and when their eyes met, Liam almost flinched upon seeing how hard his expression had gotten. This was the first time they were having clear disagreements in front of May. “May, love, can you go to your room, please?”

“But… but… did I do something wrong?” Now SHE sounded close to panicking, and Liam felt guilty, but on the other hand, he still felt an urge to keep on asking, it’s just… fuck, he couldn’t believe that all of this was happening.

“You didn’t, I promise. Just try and go back to sleep, okay? We’ll be quiet now.” At this, Niall threw a look at Liam, as if to tell him to keep it together, and he probably would have, had his daughter not been here.

Somehow though, that didn’t exactly make Liam feel any calmer. He was beyond sad, yes, but he was also kind of upset now, that Niall was breaking up with him over things he didn’t even know about, the fact that he didn’t even seem to WANT to know what May’s grandparents knew or what they had asked. But he still was breaking up with Liam over it.

“I’ll-“

“May, why did they ask you all these questions? Do you know?” Maybe Liam sounded slightly insane at this point, and truth was, he actually felt that exact way. “Did you tell them where your uncle Zayn works? Did-“

“Liam! That’s enough.” When Niall raised his voice they all flinched, and it took only a couple of seconds of May looking from her dad to Liam and back before she started crying. Liam did feel guilty now, but he could also still feel himself being upset and hurt and just… fuck. He had messed up, and yet he still would’ve continued had Niall let him. “Sweetheart, it’s alright, everything’s okay, I promise. You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”

“B-But… b-but I d-did… I t-told t-them, d-daddy… t-they a-asked a l-lot a-and… a-and I-I… I t-thought-“

“Shh, it’s okay, it doesn’t matter. We can talk about this later, okay? Can you go to your room, please? And close the door? I’ll be there in just a few minutes. I promise.” Niall was trying to dry her cheeks as he put her down again, gently, and she clearly didn’t want to leave but he seemed determined to make her. And Liam already knew what was going to happen once she was gone. He had fucked up. 

“A-And L-Liam?” May asked, sniffing loudly, but Niall just told her again to go to her room, kissing her forehead, and so she listened to him, throwing another look at Liam though and he had no idea what to say or do, so he didn’t do anything.

It was the most terrible few seconds, waiting for May to go back to her room, and close the door, and by the time Niall and Liam looked at each other again, Liam already knew what was going to happen now.

“Are you _insane_?” Niall half spit out, his voice lowered but it was filled with so much anger that Liam would’ve flinched had he not himself felt so upset. “What the fuck, Liam? Why did you do that? She’s a little girl.”

“What do you expect me to do, huh? Just say, alright, goodbye, let’s just break up and not even be sure why, but who cares, I guess. Surely not you.” Liam got up out of impulse, somewhat trying not to yell, but honestly, he wasn’t doing a very good job with that. At all. And neither was Niall after he had said that.

“How can you say that?! I LOVE you, I really do, and you know that! I didn’t want any of this to happen, but this is my daughter and she’s always gonna be my number one priority!” Niall had gotten up as well now, but Liam wasn’t even looking at him anymore, he was walking towards the door, needing to cool down but he only got more upset somehow.

“And she’s supposed to be, but what about us?! There are millions of other options, that we could have talked about, but you decided to plot behind my back with your two best friends and some lawyer! You’re breaking up with me without even knowing if it’ll make a difference, without even knowing what May told them, without-“

“They’re not gonna do anything once they’re certain we broke up!” Niall interrupted, full on yelling, and when Liam stopped in the middle of a step and turned around to look at the younger man, he could tell Niall felt caught. He hadn’t meant to say this, quickly continuing though, in a normal voice. “They sent a letter, a day or two after they talked to Zayn, to get me to court, and I panicked and I lied to my lawyer and said we’re already broken up because I was panicking and I wanted him to tell them that and they said they might be willing to talk it out between us but only provided we really broke up and-“

“And you believe that?!” Liam shot back, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy. “They’re just saying that because they were using our relationship as their main argument, but they wanted May before all this and they will still want her now, me and you were just an excuse!” 

“What choice do I have?!” None, but Liam didn’t care anymore. “Li-“

“No, stay away, seriously. Not only did you plan to break up with me, for _days_ , and kept all this from me, you also lied to me and said you’ve not talked to them! And in reality you’ve gone around actually telling people we’re not even together anymore?! Why are you even telling me all this then anyways? You couldn’t even tell me the truth before. You wanna break up, so then we’re broken up now, apparently since days already, and this has nothing to do with me anymore.” It was harsh, but it was the truth.

Niall was clearly shocked to hear Liam talk this way, he didn’t speak when Liam put on his shoes and got his things, he didn’t even move until the very second that Liam smashed his key on the table by the door. 

“Liam-“

But Liam never heard the end of it because he had already walked out the front door.

 

\---------------

 

“You… wait, _what?!_ ” Louis asked for probably the tenth time, and had Niall not felt so dead inside, he might have actually lost it. He had been pretty close the entire day, but after crying his eyes out the entire night and day, he somehow felt dried out, and also as if he wasn’t even really alive anymore. 

“Me and Liam broke up. And I have to quit my job at the studio.” Niall repeated, in the shortest version possible, the words not even sounding real when he said them out loud even though it wasn’t the first time because Louis had somehow still not gotten it. 

“I got that part, but _why?_ ” The older man seemed to not believe Niall somehow, and Niall didn’t blame him, but he was tired of repeating himself. As far as he knew, Harry hadn’t talked to Louis about anything that had happened during the last week, and apparently… neither had Liam after last night. But Niall was careful not to think about him. 

“I think it kinda goes hand in hand.” Wasn’t it OBVIOUS?!

“That’s not what I mean, I mean why did you break up with Liam all of a sudden? And when?! Is it because of May’s grandparents? Like, what the hell happened? Harry didn’t even tell me anything. Or does he also not know?” Oh, if only.

“He does… he said it’s my decision if I tell you or not.“ Niall half mumbled, getting real tired of this conversation. He just wanted to lie down and hope to fall asleep so he wouldn’t have to think anymore. “I’m just telling you because I have to quit and-“

“I got that part. How are you so calm?” Good question. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah, May’s at my parents’, so… “ After Liam had left last night, Niall had spent at least an hour trying to get May back to sleep, trying to get her to stop crying and had made up lies as to what was going on, only so that he himself could finally go and cry. So then today he had somehow managed to call his parents, tell them what had happened and though May hadn’t wanted to leave, they had somehow convinced her so that Niall could have some peace of mind. Not that that had worked. “Listen, I kinda don’t wanna talk about it, I just wanted to tell you so you can look for somebody else.”

“I’m not going to, you can just take a break and then come back if you want. I know you need the money.” Well, that was true, but kinda not Niall’s biggest problem right now. “We don’t have to talk about it, but… maybe it’d help. I understand if you’d rather talk to Harry or Zayn though.”

Niall didn’t answer immediately, he just stared at the wall from where he was half lying on the couch, at a picture of May on her first day of kindergarten, and suddenly he wanted to cry again. “I kinda don’t wanna talk to anybody anymore.”

“Pushing it away won’t make it better though.” Louis threw in, and he was right, but it only made Niall have to blink back a few tears, leaning his head back a bit so they wouldn’t actually spill over. His skin and eyes were already burning from all the crying. 

He didn’t wanna have to repeat it all to Louis, say it out loud yet again, but also, what else was Niall going to do? 

“They, um… they went to question Zayn. On Monday.” Niall started, clearing his throat a bit because it had gotten really tight, but he was determined to get this out without bawling. “So then he called Harry and… they came to my place. And… they thought me and Liam should take a break, because it was kinda obvious that May must have said a lot of things she shouldn’t have and… anyways, I didn’t wanna do it. I thought maybe it’d all pass, and they were bluffing or whatever, so I pushed it back and told myself I’d talk to Liam when he gets home, but then… well, two days later I got a letter. From court. So, I… I talked to my lawyer. Not Liam’s. And… and I panicked and I told him me and Liam were already broken up, because it’s not looking that good for me and… well, May’s grandparents didn’t believe it of course, but they offered that we could maybe deal with it privately, if I really did break up with Liam, so… “

“So you did.” Louis finished, and Niall nodded slowly, the memories feeling like daggers. 

“Yeah, but… but I couldn’t do it over the phone and… and when I saw Liam last night, I- I almost chickened out and… so I lied to him. I didn’t tell him everyone already thought we were broken up for days already and… fuck, we had a fight. And May got involved because she woke up and Liam started questioning her about what she had told her grandparents because I told him I didn’t ask her because I didn’t want her to worry and then we fought even more and he just… left.” And they hadn’t spoken anymore since, obviously, but Niall also wouldn’t have known what else to say to Liam. It hurt enough already and he couldn’t make it undone, it’s not like he had wanted any of this to happen. “So I have to quit my job. And I probably shouldn’t even be telling you all this and-“

“I’m not going to tell anyone, if that’s what you think. You and Liam are my friends, I wouldn’t sell you guys out to the press or whatever. I’m still not going to fill your position because I don’t really need to, but I understand if you think it’s smarter not to be associated with me in that way right now.” Thankfully Louis finally got it. “I, uh… I understand if you don’t wanna tell me, but like… what exactly are their arguments?”

Great, even more explaining and trying not to cry, but if Niall was being honest right now, he actually preferred this over sitting alone in silence. 

“Well, the list is kinda endless by now, but… first of all my entire relationship to Liam, that I dragged May into the public eye, the pictures of her being taken, that I didn’t do anything about it or her name being everywhere, that I let her go to the States with Liam and she must have told them how much she hadn’t liked going without me, that me and Liam are apparently being too explicit in front of her, whatever that means, that I don’t have stable jobs, that I’m too young and my income varies too much. They tried to get Zayn on their side and when he didn’t comply they just came for him also, that I let him babysit too often to go party or some other lie, that HE parties too much as well and that he’s a drunk and… actually, the list just goes on. They even said I’m being irresponsible because I’m into men and May needs a mother, which… probably won’t hold in court, but it’s not like they need more. They even went to talk to May’s teachers and some parents and you can imagine what they said after May’s been obsessed with Liam for so long, so…” Hearing himself talk for so long and still not being done listing everything, Niall felt himself shudder. “At this point I gotta be happy they aren’t trying to blame their daughter’s death on me… “ 

“That is… “ Louis started after a moment of silence between them, clearly having trouble finding any comforting words. There weren’t any. “… insane. And… and you didn’t ask May what she told them?”

“No, what good would it do now? I doubt she can remember it all anyways, she didn’t realize why they were asking, so… it’s already done. It’s too late.” If at least Niall hadn’t lied to Liam about it all already being a case, maybe they wouldn’t have fought, maybe he wouldn’t have made May cry, but then again… it was bad enough that Niall had pretended for days. After telling everyone they were already broken up. 

Somehow though he had been naïve enough to believe that maybe he could pull this lie off, but… it had hit him at some point that he couldn’t risk anything. Not when it was about his daughter. 

“But now that you and Liam are broken up… they agreed to handle this privately?” Louis was pouring even more salt into the wound by saying it out loud and Niall took a shaky breath, not sure how much longer he could keep it together at this point. 

“I mean… yeah, but… I’m not sure if maybe they’re just trying to be fake nice now because I took away their biggest argument, but like… the damage is already done anyways. I already look like the worst parent ever and I suppose they can now basically demand whatever the hell they want.” And Niall would just have to take it, and still be grateful for it because he’d always have to tell himself it could’ve been worse. He wasn’t sure anymore now though, what good it had done to break up with Liam, but he also didn’t wanna find out what would’ve happened if he hadn’t done it. “So… now you know.”

“Yeah… “ Was all Louis said to that, probably still not done processing it, and Niall got it, because he wasn’t either. Plus he was also terrified of whatever else they would come up with, what else they had asked May or somehow fabricated by looking at some pictures or talking to people from Niall’s past or… or who knew who else. “Do you… do you even want to be alone right now?”

“I don’t know… “ Niall genuinely didn’t know anything anymore, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from just ruminating, worrying about everything and everyone. It honestly felt like the end somehow, as if it was just wasted time right now because he knew nothing would ever be the way it had been before. “You know, I, uh… I understand if… if you’d rather, um, call Liam, so… “

“I probably should… “ Well, he was Liam’s best friend, obviously he had to talk to him, and Niall tried not to get too much into it, but like… he loved Liam, he was worried as hell about him because he had no idea what he had done after last night and he couldn’t ask him, he couldn’t fix this, he couldn’t even say sorry and take it all back. It was just the way it was now, and they couldn’t do anything about it. “But if you need anything… “

“No, it’s, uh, fine, if… if you call him, so. I just only called to tell you I quit.” Niall quickly made sure to tell the older man, feeling his tears already coming at a quicker pace. 

“Okay, but maybe you should call Harry or Zayn or your parents and-“

“I-I- I kinda wanna be alone, so.” The younger man quickly lied, joking back a sob as the first tear spilled over and he hurried to end the call. “I’ll talk to you in, um, a few days. Or so.”

“Niall-“

And then Niall just hung up because he couldn’t take it anymore, just in time for his tears to fully come in yet again. He did manage to quickly text Harry to let him know that Louis now knew, just because they were still together of course because they could be, because they weren’t getting sued over it, so. 

There were a few moments where Niall thought about actually calling Liam, texting him, even though he knew he couldn’t because even if they’d talk this out and somehow made up… it’s not like that’d change anything. Being with Liam would always put May in risk of being photographed again, of even worse things happening and adding fuel to the fire and Niall would just have to get it into his head. 

Even if he literally had no fucking clue how to ever do that. 

 

\------------------

 

Liam was used to having to function, even when he was at his lowest. Even when shit was written about him in all the papers and his whole private life was suddenly public and people kept asking and pushing and demanding. But he had to admit it had never been this bad or hard to pretend and put up those smiles and just carry on as if nothing had happened. At least on the outside.

He basically just drove and cried that night, and then went home and carried on doing that before getting himself a flight back to Asia the very next day. There was nothing he could have done, nothing at all, contacting Niall would’ve only made it worse, both emotionally but also legally for the younger man and… it was the most terrible thing in the world, to know they loved each other but that there was no way they could make this work again. At least not how things were right now. 

Of course Liam felt guilty for what he had done, making May cry and yelling at Niall, but… fuck, he had truly been hurt. And he still wished Niall would have called him immediately, not kept it a secret and then lied straight to his face. But Liam also knew why he had done it, that he would have never wanted to intentionally hurt Liam even more, it’s just… none of this mattered anymore now, did it?

As quickly as their relationship had progressed, as quickly had everything fallen apart. 

Nothing was made public at first, because nobody knew except their close friends and family, but Liam also tried to completely stay out and away from it. His only connection would’ve been Louis anyways, but the older man never brought it up and Liam didn’t ask because just living with it was bad enough, if he had had to talk about it… pretty sure he would have just ended up crying anyways. 

And he had done way too much of that the past few weeks. Liam still didn’t know how to ever get over Niall, he was literally the love of his life and to know that they had been forced to end this without ever getting full clarity, knowing they actually wanted to be together… it was more than just terrible.

So Liam took every opportunity and every chance he got to work and have performances and interviews and do promo, just so he didn’t have to think, just to somehow numb himself. Or at least attempt to.

Eventually, he did mention that he was single, in some interview, just to clear that up, maybe make it easier for Niall in this sense because he was confirming it publicly. But Liam then chose to let every other question be banned about it because it was too fresh and quite frankly, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever want to talk about it again anyways.

“Can I ask you something?” Whenever Louis asked in that tone of voice, it never meant anything good, but just for today, Liam didn’t actually mind that much because he was just really tired and worn out. 

Liam didn’t answer, he just nodded, mindlessly scrolling through his phone, a little nervous about his upcoming album release. He had released another single a bit ago, just to hype it all up a bit more, and it had definitely gone better than the other one, but… again, Liam didn’t think about that, it just reminded him too much of other things. 

“Did you, um… did you keep that song, on the album, I mean?” Louis asked slowly, and at first Liam was just confused as hell because the album had been done for a while now. But then it hit him.

“Ummm… yeah.” He answered after a moment, letting his phone drop on his chest as he actually thought about it. “I just… I forgot about it. And I can’t change the album anymore, people already pre-ordered, so… “

“Right… “ The older man cleared his throat a bit and Liam hoped there was no actual reason as to why he had chosen to ask this question right now. Hopefully just a random thought. “Did you ever play it to N- him?”

“No… “ Liam had always meant to, but he had never found the right opportunity somehow. 

“Do you think he’ll know?” Louis was asking the exact questions that Liam had been asking himself a while ago, but had then locked away into the depths of his mind. So now it was all coming up again and, but at least so far Liam didn’t feel like crying. 

“If he ever listens to my music again… he might.” Somehow, Liam doubted that though. “I played it to May, when we went to New York, so… she’d recognize it. But I doubt she will listen to it.”

“Yeah… “ Louis cleared his throat again, indirectly confirming Liam’s theory. It didn’t really surprise him that he and his music and whatever else had probably been banned from May’s life, and Niall’s as well. Sometimes Liam wondered if it had all worked out following their break up, if it had really been worth it or if the damage had already been done. But he never asked Louis because in the end, Liam wasn’t sure what would hurt more.

To know that their relationship had almost cost Niall his daughter or that their break up had been pointless in the long run. 

They fell into silence again, so Liam eventually picked up his phone again, trying not to think about this anymore because it was only making him sad. He still thought about Niall on a daily basis, multiple times, especially at night, but actually talking about him only seemed to make things even worse. So Liam also kinda avoided calling home because it was still his mother’s favorite topic and Liam knew she only wanted his best, wanted him to be okay, but it still hurt. 

Thankfully Louis recognized that, without Liam ever having to tell him.

“Are you going home for Christmas?” The older man spoke up again after a few minutes, and Liam shrugged because he hadn’t actually decided on that yet. “Your mom would cry.”

“She always cries.” Liam joked, a little relieved about the change of topic. “But I don’t know, I’ve got a lot to do.”

“But it’s Christmas.” Louis threw in and obviously he was right, it was just… Liam wasn’t sure if it’d really be the best choice for him right now, to sit around at home and have 30 relatives ask him about Niall. And about his album that would be out by then and possibly flop because who knew?

“I don’t like the cold.” Liam lied, but it went hand in hand with the fact that he had flown Louis out to keep him some company while he was in LA. Truth be told, Liam was more here simply for the reason that it was far away from home, and in a completely different time zone, meaning less opportunities to be called. “I know people here, it’s not like I’d be alone. And my mom has two other kids, and a huge family.”

“They can’t make up for your absence though.” Sadly. “But it’s your choice anyways, I was just curious, is all.”

“It’s fine.” The younger man shrugged before giving himself a push to ask something he didn’t actually want to ask, but knew it was kinda appropriate. “Are you, uh, celebrating with Harry?” 

“Yeah, we’ll split the days to spend time with both our families… we did think about all celebrating together because they already met, but… it’s just too many people.” He quickly finished, clearly sensing what was on Liam’s mind right now and the younger man was really thankful for that. He had just asked to fake some interest if he was being honest, and they both knew that. 

There was more silence following that, and somehow it was less comfortable now than before because of the things they had discussed so Liam stared even more intensely at his phone, trying to pretend to be really busy with whatever even if he didn’t even have anyone to text right now. Or no one he wanted to text. Today was his free day though, so he should’ve probably enjoyed it a bit more than he was. To be honest though, Liam valued his time spent working a lot more these days. 

Eventually they started talking about going out to eat something, dropping the whole topic completely for the rest of the day, and Louis’ stay the next two days. That didn’t mean that it didn’t cross Liam’s mind anymore though. Because it did, all the freaking time.

 

\-----------------------

 

The album didn’t flop. Actually, kinda far from it and for the first time in a while, Liam felt actual true happiness about something, even though it was rather short lived. For which he felt guilty, but he couldn’t really control his emotions like that, could he? He didn’t read too many reviews online because he was a little bit afraid that people would start to question whether any of the songs were about Niall, most specifically the one that actually WAS about him.

And Liam was sure that people figured it out or had speculations, but he didn’t react to them nor did he allow any questions to be asked about it in interviews. Somehow though, he caught himself wishing a few times to know whether Niall had heard the album, whether he knew what the song was about, what he thought about it. Liam knew better though than to consult Louis about it because it wasn’t any of his business, was it?

At least not anymore.

He did go home for Christmas, because his mother kinda begged him to go and Liam felt guilty and maybe also slightly lonely, so… he decided to stop being selfish for a bit. Didn’t mean he didn’t end up regretting it though. 

“Why are you hiding in here?” His mother came into the room without knocking, exactly like she used to years ago, but Liam didn’t really mind it anymore. “People are asking about you.”

“I highly doubt that.” Liam joked, but he really did because there was just way too much family downstairs, and way too many things to discuss, like his sister announcing her pregnancy and whatnot. 

“What’s going on?” She ignored what he had said, coming to sit on the bed with him like she used to, when Liam had been a whole lot younger. “Do you still regret coming?”

“It’s not that.” He quickly told her, because he knew she’d take it to heart. “I’m still a bit jet lagged.”

“Are you sure?” His mother didn’t believe him, and Liam didn’t blame her at all. He had to admit that he hadn’t been trying that hard ever since he had gotten here yesterday, he had tried to socialize and talk to everyone at least once, but it had quickly become overwhelming, the amount of times people had asked about Niall. 

“Kinda.” Liam shrugged, leaning back against the pillows as he struggled to actually say what he kinda wanted to say right now. Turned out he didn’t have to though.

“I know you miss him.” She said it just like that, and Liam shouldn’t have been surprised, but he immediately felt his stomach twisting into knots. 

“Yeah, well… there’s nothing I can do.” There truly wasn’t, Liam had been thinking about it for over a month now, always coming to the same conclusions. That he was powerless. “I don’t even know what’s going on with him… or May, or… anything. And… I probably never will again, so… “ 

“You could text and ask him.” Liam’s mother suggested and honestly, that both confused but also annoyed Liam a bit. She made it sound way easier than it was.

“I can’t. It’d possibly get him in trouble if anyone finds out and… and what’s the point? We can’t be together. We can’t do anything about it, it’d only make it harder for the both of us.” Not sure how that would even be possible, but… “Of course I care about him, and May, but I can’t help them by contacting him, I’d only make it worse.”

“I don’t know if you would, actually… things aren’t going so great either way.” Wait…

“You… you’re talking to him still?” Honestly, Liam had never considered that, but he also didn’t understand it in any way and… what the hell?! “Mom?!”

“I just wished him a Merry Christmas, I swear, that is all. And then I asked how things are going, I’m sorry, I don’t wanna go behind your back, but I kinda asked on your behalf also. Not that I told him that or anything.” Oh god, Liam should’ve honestly expected this, like… he couldn’t tell the people in his life that they weren’t allowed to talk to Niall anymore, could he? “I know you still love him.”

“I do, but that’s also not the problem.” Now Liam felt upset because god, he hadn’t wanted to talk about this, but especially not today. “Can we just switch the topic?”

“No, we can’t.” Great. “Look, the reason I’m even telling you this is because I know you’re hurting and you miss him, anybody could see that you’re not doing well at all. And Niall isn’t either. And I know there is a lot of legal trouble going on, but from what I can tell it’s about much more now than whatever happened when you were together.”

“So you’re suggesting I hit him up again because it doesn’t matter anymore anyways? Mom, that’s insane. Also if he thought it didn’t matter anymore if we dated or not then _he_ would have to make that decision and not me. I don’t even know if he would want t-“

“That’s actually not what I’m saying at all.” His mother interrupted and Liam let out a frustrated sigh because maybe he actually wanted to go downstairs now. “I’m saying he’s not doing well, you’re not doing well, and I don’t think anyone is gonna sue him over texting you.”

“We’re not texting or talking because it would only hurt both of us even more. I care about him, of course I do, and I wanna be with him, but we can’t. Even if nothing would happen right now, in one or two months someone could photograph us again, something with May could happen, things would get in the way and we’d be right where we started. Our lives don’t go together.” That was true, as much as Liam hated to admit it, as much as they had tried to deny it. And yet… “… do you know what happened? Like… what the situation is now? With May?”

“Not in detail, but as far as I know she spends a lot of time with her grandparents now, especially during the week because of school. And I also talked to Louis about it” At this point, Liam’s mother only threw an apologetic glance at Liam when he rolled his eyes, more interested than he would have liked. “and he told me they insist that Niall must’ve promised them he’d give May to them, right after she was born. But that he backed out even though he signed something.”

“But… he didn’t.” He would’ve told Liam, there was no reason to keep that a secret.

“That’s what Louis said also, but Niall can’t prove that and it doesn’t hold in court anyways, it just further complicates the situation. And I think Niall gave in to whatever they wanted because he’s afraid he’s gonna lose full custody of her otherwise. Or that it would just get worse or so. But as I said, I don’t know all the details.” Great, now Liam felt even worse and even more helpless and fuck, he hated himself, for leaving the man he loved all alone in this. Well, not alone, but he knew their break up had been just as hard on Niall, and they had never talked about what had happened that night, and Niall couldn’t just carry on with life like Liam.

Fuck, Liam hadn’t even known that the last time he had kissed Niall had been the last time. And he hadn’t been prepared for that.

“I can’t help him though. None of us can. And if I text him it will only make it worse, for both of us.” Otherwise Liam would have long done it. “I can’t do anything.”

“If you keep telling yourself that.” Okay, what was that supposed to mean?!

“Mom, why are you doing this? You know I love him, I want nothing more than to be with him, but I can’t. My life won’t change anytime soon, even if I stopped making music and decided to quit it all, and it doesn’t matter anymore anyways. The damage is already done. The only thing we can do is wait until May is like 16 or something.” At this, Liam let out a humorless laugh, because as fucking deeply as he had fallen for Niall, he had actually considered this option once or twice. 

“Would you?” Liam’s mother asked, because she seemed to somehow be able to read Liam’s mind, but he didn’t answer, just kept staring at the wall. “He knows you wrote that song about him.”

“How do y- I never told you about the song either.” Now Liam felt himself blush, as stupid as it was. 

“I knew it was about him immediately, and I think everyone else does as well, Niall included.” Oh. “Liam, I don’t know all the details, or what exactly happened or what is going to happen, but… I’m afraid you will forever regret if you don’t try to fix this.”

“How?” Literally, HOW?

“You’re on that phone 24/7, I think you can figure it out.” This was probably the most parent thing she could have said right now, and Liam both wanted to laugh and cry at the very same time, but when she left him alone again, he was still just staring at his phone without doing anything.

Wouldn’t it be better for them to not make themselves hopes all over again? But then again how was Liam going to live this way, when he could barely even manage after over a month had passed? And how would he ever forgive himself for messing with Niall’s life like that? 

All of these questions ruminating in Liam’s head become pretty irrelevant when Louis suddenly texted him. Along with some pictures from whatever magazine that had apparently fabricated a huge story about a business meeting Liam had been in. Except in this version, it had been a date, and apparently looked so convincing that even Louis believed it.

 

_Louis 18:47  
please tell me this isn’t what it looks like. PLEASE. Harry just showed me this, and I think he wants to actually murder you right now._

 

That kinda gave Liam his answer on whether to text Niall or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo i think this was the most eventful chapter in this whole story, in a sad way kinda, but still. i have to admit i kinda didnt plan it to go this way, but i never really plan these things and now after editing it i am happy with it, so i do hope it all makes sense and that its somewhat realistic.
> 
> what i am trying to avoid is getting too much into detail about the legal situation because im not a lawyer and i dont know who to ask about these things. so i think its important to keep in mind that the legal situation is kind of unclear in the fic itself as well, and that niall is mostly acting out of fear of what COULD be rather than what is actually happening. but yeah i will try to clear up any questions that might still be open about why niall or liam did/said certain things!
> 
> for now i hope you guys liked the chapter (or at least the way the story is developing!), please let me know your thoughts if you want! i hope you guys all have a great week, thank you for having stuck around for so long now!! <3 also i dont know how many more chapters there are to come, but i would assume around 3 (but its just a guess, because i got something else planned!)


	23. Chapter 23

_Harry 17:08  
Louis said it’s just gossip, it was a meeting. I can still kill him if you want_

 

First of all, Niall was really confused about the text message Harry had sent him out of nowhere, on Christmas Eve out of all days, but it didn’t take a lot of research to figure out what he was talking about. So then Niall’s stomach literally dropped and he had to actually excuse himself out of the room to go to the bathroom and try to calm down. 

See, even IF Liam had gone on a date, even if he had literally already moved on or was just trying to deal with this by distracting himself with other people… Niall had no right at all to get jealous either way. Like, none at all. 

If he was being honest as well he would’ve had to admit that Liam finding someone new and going public with it would’ve actually been beneficial for Niall in terms of legal things. Not only would it prove that he and Liam definitely were broken up, it would also kinda make Niall look a bit pitiful and innocent for having fallen for him. Then again, he was about 99% certain that it had been a meeting. 

And he couldn’t help still feeling a teeny tiny bit upset and jealous. But mostly sad. 

He was at his parents’ house, without May because her other grandparents had INSISTED that she spent Christmas Eve with them and that they would drive her over later and Niall would’ve tried to resist, but… he couldn’t resist anything they wanted nowadays. Unless he wanted this to become an actual legal case that he would possibly or pretty surely lose. At least halfway, but that was already bad enough. 

So yeah. 

“What’s wrong?” His mother had immediately picked up on Niall’s mood change because he had simply left without saying a word, returning only a couple minutes later.

“I just went to the bathroom.” Niall quickly told her, attempting to fake a smile real quick, just for her. 

“You look upset.” She noted while Niall’s dad just rolled his eyes, throwing a sympathetic look at Niall that didn’t really help. 

“I’m not upset.” He was really fucking upset, even more so because he had no right to be upset at all. But paired with the fact that Liam’s mother had texted him a few hours ago as well and just all of it coming together was… nerve wrecking. And Niall had done such a great job at drowning himself in work shifts for the past few weeks in an attempt to keep his mind busy. All for nothing. 

“What happened?” His mother kept on pushing, and that alone was almost enough to push Niall over the edge.

“Nothing.” He lied, and then upon seeing the look on her face, KNOWING she was about to keep on asking anyways, he just said it. “Some people think Liam went on a date but it was a-“

“What a bastard!” Niall’s dad threw in immediately, although Niall hadn’t even thought he had been paying attention. 

“It was a meeting.” Niall quickly continued, protecting Liam even though he had no idea what for. “It just looked like a date. Either ways, it doesn’t even matter.”

“Of course it matters if it upsets you. It’s normal that it bothers you.” Niall’s mom tried to comfort him, only making it worse. 

“I’m not bothered.” Just sad and upset and literally on the verge of a breakdown. So far beyond bothered actually, so it wasn’t a lie. “Can we just talk about something else? Where were we? The neighbors-“

“Are you sure it was a meeting?” His father ignored Niall’s poor attempts to move on, now suddenly really invested for some reason. 

“Why would he go on a public date? Especially now.” Niall’s mother was right, but the fact that they were even discussing this at all made Niall wanna leave. “These gossip papers are so inconsiderate.”

“They’re not always wrong. I mean, Liam is a nice guy and all, as far as we know, but didn’t he also have a lot of scandals before him and Niall m-“

“I’m leaving.” Niall announced, pretending as if he was actually about to get up.

“Honey, no, it’s Christmas. We’ll stop and switch the topic. Right?” She threw a look at Niall’s dad, who just shrugged before eating more cake, looking well upset still. “It’s just-“

“Mom, _please_. It doesn’t matter. We’re not together, he can do whatever he wants.” Niall decided, ending the topic by quickly starting to talk about something else yet again. He didn’t miss the look his parents shared, but he decided to just let it go.

There was no point in discussing this, or even thinking about it, things were just the way they were and Niall would have to deal either way. They both had their own lives, separate lives, and whatever happened, Niall had enough problems as it was. And they weren’t getting any less either.

May’s grandparents did drive her over later, when she was already tired but still well up to choose one present to open before going to bed. Turned out she had already gotten a ton of presents tonight and was really happy about them all so Niall tried to be happy as well. As long as she was alright and didn’t mind the way things were, he’d somehow survive it as well. It’s not like he actually had a choice anyways though.

“Dad?” May asked when they were already lying in bed, in Niall’s old bedroom actually, and May was with him because she had asked to stay with him and he had simply agreed. They didn’t do this a lot anymore.

“Yes, love?” Niall was actually not tired at all, but he was keeping his eyes closed because it was dark.

“Is it bad if I don’t believe in Santa anymore because I know he’s not real and you buy all the presents?” The girl asked, slowly, and Niall almost had to laugh. 

“No, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He knew that she had figured it out a while ago anyways, but they hadn’t really ever talked about it. 

“Okay.” May sounded a bit relieved, but also not very sleepy, so Niall wasn’t at all surprised when she continued. “… dad?”

“Yes?” Niall asked again, moving a bit because the room was actually really damn hot. 

“Is it bad if I wish Liam was here?” Right.

So Niall really hadn’t expected for her to say this, at all, because they rarely ever talked about Liam nowadays. May had figured out that the topic made Niall really sad so she never asked anymore, never even mentioned him to anyone as far as Niall could tell. He had told her they had separated, that Liam wasn’t part of their lives anymore, and he had fabricated a few lies as to why, mostly sticking to “adult problems” as an excuse though. So this was the first time that his name was even mentioned, after May had INSISTED on Niall listening to one of Liam’s songs from the new album he had bought her anyways, the question kinda forming in his head before his daughter had already blurted out with it. That she knew the song, that Liam had played it to her on the way to New York, that it was about Niall. The fact that Niall hadn’t really reacted openly to that had probably made her very unsure whether she was even allowed to talk about Liam at all anymore. 

“No, it’s not bad… you’re allowed to miss him.” Niall made sure to tell her, after swallowing down the lump in his throat. _I really miss him too_ , he thought, without saying it out loud though. “I’m sure he misses you as well.”

“And you?” May asked after a moment and Niall should have really expected that if he was being honest. 

“I… I don’t know.” The man settled for that after a second because what was he supposed to say? That he missed Liam so much that sometimes he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to actually survive the night? “It’s complicated.”

“Why?” The girl asked, of course, because it was her favorite question in the entire world. “Why are all adult things complicated?”

“I wish I knew.” Truly. 

“But you still love Liam, right? And he loves you too. So why are you not talking anymore? When I fight with my friends we sometimes don’t talk for a bit but then we make up.” Niall had tried to explain it to her a while ago, so he wasn’t surprised that she was asking again now because she hadn’t seemed to understand back then either. Plus, none of it had made sense, so there was that, and she had probably thought that he and Liam would make up eventually. But now more than a month had passed.

“We didn’t really… have a fight, you know. We just… our lives are very different. And he’s away a lot and… it’s com- I don’t really know how to explain it.” Niall just decided to admit it, because what the hell, he couldn’t keep on saying the word _complicated_ for the rest of his life.

“Is it because… “ May started before breaking off, hesitating, but then continuing anyways. “Is it because of my grandparents?”

“Um, why would you think that?” She wasn’t dumb of course, so Niall wasn’t surprised she had picked up on the tension between them all and the changes they had been going through, but still. 

“Because they don’t like Liam. And because Liam asked about them when you and him were fighting when I was sleeping and because I’m at their house a lot now.” Right.

“Did you… did you talk to them about this?” Niall just wanted to know out of curiosity if he was being honest, at this point it didn’t even really matter anymore.

“No. We don’t talk about Liam anymore.” Good. “I know I’m not supposed to. Or about uncle Zayn and Harry and Louis… did I really not do anything wrong”?

“Love, I promise you did nothing wrong at all, okay? None of this has anything at all to do with you.” Except, all of it. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“But Liam isn’t here anymore and you love him and he loves you and-“

“Liam still loves you, okay? He really, really does. It’s just about me and him and nobody else, yeah? And I know I keep saying that but it IS very complicated and I don’t even really know if I understand it myself.” Not a full lie, just mostly, because he couldn’t let May think she had had a part in this, that she had done something wrong, that it was maybe partly her fault. “But you’re allowed to miss him and wish he was here.”

“I wish you and Liam could make up.” May half whispered and Niall suppressed a sigh. “You’re always sad.”

“I’m not always sad.” Just most of the time. And apparently he also wasn’t as good at hiding it as he had thought or liked to believe. 

“But-“

“May, love, look… I wish me and Liam could work this out as well. And I’m sure so does Liam. But it’s not going to work because it’s not about how much we love each other, it’s more about what’s best for both of us. And our lives are so different and he has to travel so much and it’s… not really working out. I know I already said that.” But Niall was running out of words to explain, that was the core message here. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” May told him immediately, and now Niall felt even more guilty. “I wish everybody could be happy.”

“Me too, love… “ Niall sighed, reaching over in the darkness to pet her head, wishing he would at least have the right words to make her understand. He didn’t think they actually existed though. “… are you excited about tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, I’m really excited.” She didn’t actually sound like it though, so Niall wanted to sigh yet again but he kept it together. Even if it was hard. “I like being here a lot more than at my other grandparents house. But I know I can’t tell anyone that because it’d make everyone sad.”

“Why do you like it better here?” Well, it was kinda obvious, but Niall wished she hadn’t just said that. He had already known, but now he couldn’t even pretend anymore. 

“Because you’re here. And because granny and grandpa aren’t so weird.” Amazing, as if Niall hadn’t already felt like trash. “I know it’s not nice to say people are weird, but I don’t know how to say it.”

“But you like all your grandparents, right?” It sounded like it at least, most of the time. 

“I guess… but I still like it better here. And sometimes I just wish I could stay home.” That was something Niall knew, but he always told her that he just had to work a lot and that’s why she was going to her grandparents that often, taking the blame for it. Then again, he kinda was the one to blame, he had started dating Liam knowing that it was risky. He just hadn’t thought it could go THIS extremely wrong.

“I know… “ Niall mumbled, not really knowing what else to say to this because he felt guilty and he was the one to blame but he also couldn’t change any of it. At least not right now. “It’s getting really late, we should try and sleep.”

“And what if I can’t?” May asked the same old question, and Niall laughed shortly, not really that amused though because the whole conversation was still weighing quite heavy on him. 

“Then I’m here.” And he probably couldn’t sleep either, but he wouldn’t say that of course. “Just try, okay? And try not to think about all the presents you’re getting in the morning.”

“Dad! Now you made it even worse.” The girl complained while Niall laughed, leaning up on his elbow so he could kiss May’s forehead next to him, making sure the blanket was pulled all the way up. 

“Sorry. Close your eyes, I love you.” More than she would probably ever know.

“I love you too.” May told him, making Niall’s heart a bit heavy as he lied back down, letting himself be talked into having a brief discussion about when May was allowed to wake him before he finally got her to try and sleep. Unsurprisingly, she did seem to fall asleep rather quickly, like most of the time whenever she told him she couldn’t.

Sadly, Niall didn’t find it so easy to go to sleep, he was still thinking about what had happened today. He had texted Harry back that he didn’t care and also didn’t feel like talking about it, so they had immediately dropped it. That didn’t mean though that Niall genuinely did not care, he just knew it made no sense to talk about it with anyone because what could they have done? Nothing at all.

Still, Niall found himself scrolling through a few more articles, and the longer he looked at the pictures and read theories, the more did he feel like all of it was true, that it had truly been a date. Even though Liam was literally not even touching the other person or anything. Also, even if it HAD been a date… what was it to Niall at this point? Sure, it would have hurt, but everything about it was hurting anyways.

An hour passed, maybe more, before Niall made himself do other things on his phone instead, texting Zayn for a bit, so when he got another notification on the top of his screen, he didn’t really think about it at first. It only really hit him after a second or two. And honestly, he was a little afraid to tap on it and read the full content, but he kinda did it automatically.

 

_Liam 22:58  
I’m sorry if me messaging you causes any trouble, I just have to say this or ill go crazy. It was a business meeting, not a date. I would NEVER do that to you, I have no interest in dating anybody at all except you and I still love you and I probably always will. I’m sorry about everything, how I reacted and when I made May cry, I should’ve told you sooner and I know now it’s a bit late but I still mean it. My mom told me youre not doing so good, and if theres anything at all I can do then please let me know, im always here for you. I love you. merry Christmas (also to may & your parents, if you wanna tell them)_

 

Honestly, Niall had never started crying this insanely quick over a text message, or in general, and he felt pathetic over being relieved that Liam still loved him so much. He had known of course, but maybe he also hadn’t known at all and anyways, it was just so fucking nice to have it written down. And he knew it was wrong as hell, but he still couldn’t help himself but to text back, although forcing himself to keep it short, and not too emotional. It was literally the hardest thing ever.

 

_To Liam 23:05  
It doesn’t cause any trouble, thank you for telling me. I’m sorry too for how I handled the whole situation, for lying and for a lot of things I said and I wish none of it would have had to happen. Thank you for that offer, I really don’t take it for granted… I love you too. And so does May. Merry Christmas to you as well. Thank you for the song._

 

Honestly, Niall did NOT expect Liam to answer after that because they were literally playing with fire right now, but he also couldn’t deny that he was beyond grateful that the older man did decide to answer, even if just very briefly. After no contact for such a long time, like ZERO, it was more than just difficult to not immediately do something risky again. 

 

_Liam 23:07  
<3_

 

So Niall kept it at that, closed out of the messages and just lied in silence for a really long time, re-thinking every single decision he had made in this life but not being able to figure out how he could’ve done it differently, how he could’ve both found the love of his life and kept him at the same time.

 

\---------------

 

Christmas morning seemed to last forever, mostly because of how tired Niall was because he definitely hadn’t been able to sleep after those text messages. His parents kept May entertained though, so that was nice, and Niall was happy that everyone had stuck to the no presents related to Liam rule. Obviously they wouldn’t wanna make it worse, and May was well happy about a ton of other things anyways. She was still a child, so it wasn’t too hard to get her presents she’d wanna spend the entire day playing with.

So that’s exactly what they did.

Niall still couldn’t keep a clear head though, especially not once they were back home at night and he carried his sleeping daughter upstairs, putting her to bed before going to just sit in the living room and get some work on his laptop done, just to pass time. Or at least pretend as if he was getting work done.

In reality, Niall found himself yet again reading stupid articles and looking at Liam’s Instagram and some paparazzi shots of him, trying not to cry. But he still cried anyways, because usually he always did, no matter how many times he told himself that it was going to get better. Actually, it felt like things were just getting worse and worse.

So he spent quite some time doing that, and at some point he thought he had heard May waking up, but when he went to check on her, she was still fast asleep, so Niall decided he should’ve probably done the same. May was home from school until January, and Niall still had to work of course so he kinda hated how convenient it was that her grandparents were now her only baby sitters because they wanted to have her all the time anyways, and Niall couldn’t say no. So Niall thought he should get some rest to spend time with her tomorrow, the only full day he’d be all alone with her in quite a while. 

Just going to bed with that prospect though wasn’t really helping in any way.

 

\--------------

 

“But I don’t wanna go, dad. I wanna stay home.” May complained, again, because she wasn’t sure if her dad had heard her or not because he and uncle Harry seemed so busy on their computers. “Can I please stay home?”

“May, I’m sorry, this isn’t an option.” Was all her dad told her and May wanted to cry. She really did not want to spend New Year’s Eve with her grandparents, she wanted to spend it with her dad, like every year, so why did he have to work tonight?! 

“But why can I not stay home? I never have to go to my grandparents on New Year’s Eve.” May had to go to their house a lot lately, ever since her dad had had a fight with Liam and May didn’t understand any of it, at all. She was afraid she had said too much to her grandparents, or that she had done things wrong, and now Liam was gone, and May missed him terribly. 

And she knew her dad missed him too, because May sometimes heard him crying at night. And she also knew that Liam missed her dad as well because there was this song on his new album, the one he had written for her dad. So why couldn’t they make up? May really didn’t understand it, she just wanted things to go back to how they had been.

“I know, but you have to go this time.” Was all he told her and May huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, but nobody was paying attention to her anyways. 

She had a lot more to say, but then she didn’t say anything at all and instead just stomped off to her room, really loudly to make sure everybody knew she was mad. But nobody came after her to check on her and she knew her dad and uncle Harry were very busy and had no time for her, but it still upset May even more. 

She didn’t mind spending time with her grandparents, but it was getting boring by now and she didn’t want another sleepover at their house. In the beginning, May had enjoyed the stories about her mom and looking at pictures, but now she felt like she knew everything and had no more questions. If only her dad could’ve come as well, that would’ve been a lot better. May had asked her grandparents last time if maybe her dad could come visit with her one day and they had told her that he didn’t want to. But May wasn’t sure if she believed that.

For a while, May played a bit in her room, with her new things she had gotten for Christmas, but eventually, that got boring as well, so she colored for a few minutes, not finishing the picture though. There wasn’t so much time left before her grandparents would come pick her up, it was already getting dark outside and May was supposed to pack some things in her bag before they’d come. So she did that, but only because she was bored. 

While going through her things, May found the bracelet that Liam had given to her when they had gone to visit him a year ago. She still knew the exact day because it had been right after Christmas as well and looking at it really made May sad. She missed Liam so much, she just wanted him to talk to her dad to work it all out because her dad wouldn’t ever do it.

Maybe Liam didn’t know how much her dad missed him? Maybe… 

And suddenly, May had a really, really good idea what else she could be doing instead of going to her grandparents’ house. 

 

\-----------------

 

“God, they’re already on their way… “ Niall sighed as he checked his phone briefly, trying not to think about how upset May was about having to leave. “You know, you really don’t have to spend New Year’s Eve with me working.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do, Louis is going to this party and it’s… not my kinda thing. And we’re behind with work anyways.” Harry seemed to genuinely mean it, so at least Niall didn’t feel too bad about keeping his friend here. More for company than for work, but… “Have you tried suggesting to them that they could just spend the night here with you and May instead of taking her with them?”

“Of course, I’ve told them multiple times now that they can also come visit and spend time with her here and I’ll try to not interfere too much, but no chance. They just really hate me.” Niall shrugged, because it was true and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make it right for them. But as long as they wouldn’t sue him, he would still do whatever they wanted from him and they of course knew just how much power they had over him. “But they make me out to be the bad guy, even in private when we all know that they made up that story about me signing something 7 bloody years ago.”

“Did they really fake your signature?” They might as well have.

“Who even knows… I _know_ I didn’t sign anything, I did consider giving May to them when I was younger and of course I wouldn’t say that out loud now, and I also don’t remember what exactly I talked about with them all those years back, but I didn’t sign anything. I doubt they’d actually go through with this.” They couldn’t, like, with a fake paper, right? “They just told me so that I’d be even more scared.”

“I don’t know what else they want from you, they can already have May literally whenever.” It was true, but Harry saying it out loud still made Niall’s stomach turn. Everything had gotten so out of control, he couldn’t even keep track anymore of everything himself. 

“May’s gonna hate me for all this one day.” In the beginning she had been quite alright with it, but especially since Christmas and also tonight Niall was really noticing how much his daughter had just been pretending. He did believe that she liked he grandparents, but he also knew that out of everyone, she wanted to mostly be with him. And it hurt like hell to know that he couldn’t give her what she wanted. 

“She won’t, you’re her dad. One day she’s going to understand.” Honestly, Niall felt like she was already picking up on things she shouldn’t have, but he wasn’t going to try and stop it from happening. Honestly, why did HE have to take all the blame, if May figured out that it was her grandparents’ fault… then so be it. 

Niall just shrugged though, typing something on his laptop before deciding that it was getting late and he didn’t even know if May had gotten herself ready and packed. She had come in here a while ago, asking if she could watch TV and Niall had let her because he felt guilty, telling her to close the door so he and Harry could still work. It wasn’t helping too much, because they could still hear the TV through the wall, but neither of them minded too much.

“I’ll go check if she’s ready, they’ll get upset if they have to wait.” He rolled his eyes as he got up after Harry had thrown a sympathetic look at him, opening the door to the living room. “May? Did you already pack your things?”

There was no answer, and the living room was empty with the TV still on and Niall had to refrain from getting angry that she had just left to go to her room without turning it off. And that she was ignoring him. 

“I’m sorry you have to go to your grandparents’ house tonight, I promise we can do whatever you want tomorrow when you get back home. Have you already gotten your backpack?” Niall kept talking as he walked towards her room, expecting her to be lying on her bed with a mess everywhere and her things unpacked. The mess was definitely there, but not May. “May?”

Niall wasn’t freaking out just yet, he just briefly looked underneath her bed and in her closet even though she was too old for that, but he didn’t find her. So then he did feel a bit of panic rising in his chest as he went to his own room, checking everywhere as well and then finally the bathroom and back to the living room. And well, then Niall was in full blown panic mode.

“She’s gone.” He told Harry, feeling out of breath for some reason, and a little dizzy and more than just freaked out. Where the hell was she?!

“What do you m-“

“I can’t find her. I checked every room and… she’s not here.” Niall told his friend, not being able to think clearly, just standing there in the doorway to the kitchen, staring at Harry. 

Harry hesitated for only a second before he got up as well, pushing past Niall to go look himself, as if Niall could have overlooked her. “May? Where are you?”

“Her shoes are gone, and her jacket, I- Wait here, I have to go look outside.” Niall finally managed to unfreeze himself while Harry was searching the flat, already slipping on his shoes, leaving the door open as he walked out into the staircase, his heart racing as he hurried down the stairs, and then outside where it was already pitch black, and snowing, and cold as hell. But Niall couldn’t even feel it. “May?!”

Nothing, just noises of cars, the usual, not even a single soul walking around in this awful weather and Niall couldn’t even see all too much because there were so few streetlights and-

“I’m calling the police. Stay calm, okay, she can’t be far, she-“

“Not far?! She had a whole hour, we have to go and search for her, did you get my car keys?” Harry had come outside, with a jacket for Niall and luckily also the keys, already holding his phone in his hands to call the police, and Niall was up and ready to just run to his car. But then he remembered something. “Fuck, her grandparents are coming and-“

“Speak of the devil.” Harry interrupted as a car pulled into the street. “Tell them what happened, I’ll inform the police and then we can go search for her, alright? It’s good if they’ll help us look.”

And then Harry walked back into the building while Niall was standing there on the sidewalk, shivering out of fear and panic and god dammit, they were just wasting their bloody time, they needed to go look for May!

“It was really not necessary for you to come outside and- Where is May?” May’s grandfather only rolled down the window about halfway, and Niall felt an urge to still try and punch him in the face or something. “We don’t have a lot of t-“

“May ran away, Harry is calling the police right now and we have to go look for her, I’ll get my car as soon as Harry is-“

“Hold up, hold up. What? She _ran away?!_ ” Jesus, could they not listen?!

“Yes, I can’t find her anywhere, she took her backpack and-“

“And we’re supposed to believe that?” What the hell?!

“You can go upstairs and check if you want, I don’t bloody care, my daughter is gone and I’m not gonna waste my time talking!” Niall was being rude, but he didn’t care because he couldn’t think straight, and luckily Harry was already coming back.

“They’re coming here, we can go look and you can stay here to talk to them and-“

“We’re definitely not going to _look_ for her, if she’s even gone and you two aren’t hiding her somewhere.” Now May’s grandfather was getting out of the car and Niall just wanted to cry at this point. “Where is she?”

“She is GONE, I told you! Why would I lie about that?!” Also, the police was literally coming, so then they’d probably believe Niall but his outburst seemed to be enough already and they simply decided to be angry at him for something else.

“What a great father you are.” May’s grandmother threw in as she got out of the car as well, and Niall only noticed he had taken a step forward when Harry suddenly held onto his arm, holding him back. “Not even noticing your own daughter running away in the middle of the night! How long has she been gone for while you and your friend have gotten up to god knows what?! This WILL have consequences, I can promise you that! And-“

“Sorry, but I hardly think any of this is appropriate, I’m sure we can all agree that the only thing that matters right now is finding May and her being alright.” Harry interjected, for which Niall was really grateful because he had been about to explode. “Niall has to stay here to talk to the police, and if you don’t go looking for her then we will all stay here because I’m not leaving him alone in this… company.”

“What is that supposed to mean?! Harry, that is your name, right? The _lawyer_ friend?” Jesus Christ.

“Yeah, so I suggest you choose your words wisely from now on.” Harry told him smoothly, and Niall would’ve been proud of him had he not been so damn afraid. He didn’t want to just wait here, but he also knew it was pointless to try and look for May on his own right now. At least she had put on her jacket, thank fucking god. 

Niall was about to call his parents when Harry pulled him aside for a moment, May’s grandparents still going off about how this could’ve happened, but Niall wasn’t listening to anything they were saying, he could just hear ringing in his ears. And then Harry’s whisper in his ear.

“How far is it to Liam’s place from here?” What?

“Wh-“

“I found this bracelet in the living room on the couch when I was checking the flat while you were outside. It’s the one he gave to her, I’m pretty sure because she showed it to me and- anyways, I think she wants to go and talk to him.” Shit.

“She can’t, she’s seven years old, and even if she did somehow manage to get on the underground and the train, which she won’t, so she’s probably trying to walk and that’d take WAY longer than an hour even if-“

“I know, she couldn’t get in the building and he’s not even home. I just think you should tell the police that when they arrive, and I just wanted to warn you because we both know what the reaction to that is going to be.” Harry was right, and had Niall not already felt sick to his stomach and dizzy as hell, he would’ve probably passed out now from fear had his friend not held onto his arm. “… I didn’t wanna tell you, but Louis is with Liam at a party, I can call him and get them both to come and-“

“Don’t. Please. They probably had drinks and… they can’t help.” So now Niall knew why Harry hadn’t been keen on that party, and he had to admit that he was suddenly overwhelmed with how much his friend had his back, avoiding Liam at all costs as well. “I’ll call my parents.”

The younger man nodded immediately before saying something Niall would have never expected him to say in a billion years a couple months ago, and it was so ridiculous right now but it would’ve made him laugh had they not been in this awful situation. “I’ll call Zayn. Maybe he’s just about still sober.”

Obviously Niall was itching to just go search for May, at every train station and underground station, but the police showed up literally five minutes later and Niall had the hardest time ever trying to explain to them while May’s grandparents were right there, throwing in comments and judging him for everything he said. Right until one of the two police officers had to step in and ask them to be quiet while they were questioning Niall.

Niall HAD to add that he believed that she was trying to go to his… ex-boyfriend’s apartment and the rough location, so they’d know, but literally, these words were the hardest thing ever to get over his lips. Especially because they were followed by such intense and angry glares. Oh, this would have the worst consequences Niall could ever even imagine.

They went all out to search then, after the police officers had made a rough plan that Niall hated but couldn’t not agree to, just glad honestly when he was FINALLY in his car going out to do what they should’ve done like 10 minutes ago already. Not that they had any success whatsoever.

Every minute that passed by without Niall finding May or getting a call that someone else had found her was nerve wrecking as fuck. His parents were driving around the area as well, but Zayn hadn’t answered his phone although if Niall had had to be honest, he honestly didn’t care because it probably wouldn’t have changed anything.

OF COURSE it was his fault, he was the one to blame for this, if anything happened to her… fuck, Niall didn’t even want to bloody imagine. He just wanted to find her, right at this very second, but he didn’t, also not when he couldn’t hold back those tears anymore and he knew it was unsafe to drive like this, in the middle of the night, in a bloody snow storm, but… fuck. Niall was just so done.

An hour passed, and maybe even more, and eventually Niall was forced to turn around and drive back home to check in with everyone like the police officers had told them to do. Everyone was already there, without May, and Niall dreaded getting out of the car because it felt like such a waste of fucking time to just stand there and talk, so he didn’t even bother wiping his tears.

“Alright, so what we’re going to do next is-“

One of the police officers started, making it sound as if he actually thought this was going to end well tonight, but he got interrupted by his colleague, who had been standing a bit to the side, talking on his phone or whatever, Niall hadn’t paid attention.

All he could focus on was what was coming out of the man’s mouth. “We found her.”

For the split of a second, Niall was happy, and relieved, but the very next he noticed the look on the officer’s face and the tone of his voice, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he could take whatever he was about to say next.

 

\------------

 

Liam wasn’t drunk, he wasn’t even tipsy, he had had half a glass but that had been hours ago. Honestly, he was just bored for some reason. There were a ton of people wanting to talk to him and he did quite a good job at pretending to have fun, but he wasn’t having any fun whatsoever, he would have stayed home had Louis not dragged him out, telling him to get it together. So this was Liam trying to keep it together.

He couldn’t help but think about Niall literally the whole day already, it’s just… fuck, he would have never bloody thought that this year would end, with them not being together anymore. Yeah, they had exchanged two text messages on Christmas, but that had been it, Liam hadn’t tried again anymore after that, even though his mother had urged him, but… what was the point? It’d only make Liam cry again, just like on Christmas Eve. 

Maybe it was good that he was here, because at least he could definitely not cry in front of all these people, so there was that. He’d just save it for around 2 in the morning when he’d be back home. 

“I told you you’d be enjoying yourself.” Louis came to find Liam after a while, apparently buying Liam’s fake laugh as well. 

“I’m really not.” Liam leaned in so only his friend would hear, keeping up his smile though because they were with a group of people. 

“God, you’re terrible.” The older man joked as he threw his arm around Liam’s shoulder, making it seem like a random gesture but he did end up pulling him away into a more quiet corner. “You’re not even drunk.”

“Neither are you. You’re making it sound like I always get drunk.” To be fair…

“You used to.” Louis shrugged before drinking _water_ out of his glass and Liam didn’t need to ask why. He was definitely going to Harry’s after this, maybe even before midnight, and Liam really didn’t wanna talk about that, even if it was kinda selfish. When Louis had told him Harry wouldn’t join them, Liam had at first been relieved but then he also knew that Harry was most likely with Niall and in all honesty… he didn’t know anymore what he preferred. “You okay?”

Liam just shrugged at that question, checking his phone quickly. God, still so much more time left until freaking midnight, and then he’d have to stay for a bit after as well and… he should’ve stayed home. Or stayed with his parents.

“Maybe we should both have a drink.” Now Louis would even get drunk for Liam to have fun, but the younger man just laughed it off, shaking his head and Louis rolled his eyes. “What else would we- wait.”

“Seriously? You can’t wait two seconds to text your boyfriend back?” Liam joked when Louis was immediately all focused on his phone, almost completely zoned out and Liam wasn’t sure if he was slightly upset or amused.

“Hold on… “ Louis mumbled, suddenly looking all serious and now Liam wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be worried, but he literally had no time to think about it because the second Louis started to explain, Liam’s own phone was suddenly going off. “Okay, don’t freak out, but Harry just told me that-“

And Liam didn’t hear the rest, because his caller ID was showing the very last name on earth he would have expected to read right now. Maybe ever again.

Liam kinda froze upon seeing Niall’s name, sharing the briefest look with Louis before immediately turning on the spot to walk out onto the balcony, even though it was freezing, but he needed to drown out the noises. He hadn’t been this nervous for anything in a long time, not even for his album release and- whatever.

“Niall?” Liam asked after answering the call, probably right before it had been about to end. 

“Please tell me you’re not drunk.” Was the only thing the younger man said, no greeting no nothing and honestly, just from that sentence, Liam felt himself starting to get worried. He sounded as if he had been crying or something.

“I’m not, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?” Hearing Niall’s voice again, even if just through the phone, it did so many things to Liam that he tried to ignore right now though, because something seemed to have happened or Niall wouldn’t have called.

“No… “ Niall mumbled after a second and Liam felt a shiver going through his body, not only from the cold though. “Nothing is, Liam, I- you said, um… you said that- that I could t-tell you if I n-need anything a-and… “

“Where are you? What happened?” Now Liam was genuinely about to freak out because Niall was clearly crying, his voice breaking and without even knowing what was going on, he wanted to cry as well, already assuming the very worst. “Niall, what-“

“I r-really need you n-now. Please. I c-can’t do t-this a-anymore a-and- I’m a-at the h-hospital and- fuck. S-Sorry.” Niall excused himself as he had to sob, but Liam didn’t even really notice anymore, because he was already walking back inside, turning up the volume of his phone to make up for the noise. 

“Are you okay?! What happened, are y-“

“It’s n-not m-me… it’s M-May.” So then that was the moment Liam wanted to throw up. “Please j-just c-come… L-Louis knows w-where a-and-“

“I’ll come, I’m on my way, okay? Everything will be okay, I’ll be as quick as I can.” Liam promised, luckily immediately making eye contact with Louis, who didn’t even ask any questions but simply walked with Liam to leave. “Is Harry with you? You’re not alone, right?”

“H-Harry is here, y-yeah… “ The younger man half choked out and Liam felt his own throat closing up. “T-Take your t-time though… it’s a snow s-st-“

“I’ll be there as fast as I can, I promise.” Liam didn’t care about a snow storm or whatever else, he just hoped Louis had already called a car while he had been out on the balcony. They were walking outside together, some security guards joining them, but Liam didn’t care a single bit who heard what he was saying. “I love you. It’s all going to be okay.”

“Y-Yeah… I love you t-too… “ Niall didn’t sound convinced at all and the fact that he wasn’t saying what had happened, that he was crying this much, it definitely wasn’t a good sign. 

They ended the call when Liam and Louis walked outside together, trying to avoid the paps as much as possible as they got into the car waiting for them. Thank god Louis was with Liam or he would have surely already lost it having to wait for a car or whatever else.

“What the hell happened to May? Did Harry tell you?” Liam immediately blurted out once Louis had told the driver which hospital and Liam was honestly on the verge of hyperventilating.

“No details, no, he just- Liam, breathe, seriously. Calm d-“

“How?! How am I supposed to be calm? God knows what happened to May, Niall sounded so fucking done on the phone, he was crying and- fuck. Louis, what if-“

“Okay, stop, don’t finish that sentence. Alright? We’ll be there as fast as we possibly can and then we will find out what happened. Okay? Niall is already freaking out so he needs you to try and keep it together.” But HOW?! “Also-“

“What else could there possibly be?” Seriously, did Liam even wanna know at this point?!

“Harry told me to warn you, that everyone is there, as in, all of May’s grandparents, not only Niall’s parents. Just in case-“

“Fuck them. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” It did make Liam nervous, for like, 1 second, before he remembered that he didn’t care, at all, not in this situation. “What did Harry tell you? About what happened?”

“I don’t think it’s gonna make it any better if I tell you half the story now, I think you just need to take a few breaths and-“

“Please shut up.” Liam interrupted because if Louis wasn’t going to tell him then he didn’t need him to say anything right now because he was about to literally lose it. 

Louis actually did him the favor and shut up, so Liam was mostly having a conversation with himself from there on, not being able to keep his legs still or his fingers, his mind literally racing and so many awful things entering his brain that he wished he could’ve turned it off. It seemed like literal eternity until they made it to the hospital, and then inside as well and Liam didn’t give a single thought to who might have recognized or seen him, because it didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered right now except getting to Niall.

Luckily Louis was in contact with Harry the entire time, so he knew exactly where they needed to go, and what floor, and it all went by in a rush before they were suddenly in the right waiting area and Liam stopped dead on upon seeing Niall, for the first time in over a month.

Literally, everything else seemed blurred, like in some cheesy movie or whatever, but when Niall looked up and saw Liam, he definitely did not hesitate like the older man. Instead, he got up from his seat immediately, his face wet and red from all the tears as he threw his arms around Liam like so many times before, much tighter this time though, continuing to cry into his shoulder.

Liam hugged back immediately, out of habit, even though he still wasn’t quite fully there already, he just pressed his eyes closed as he held onto Niall, as tightly as he could, a mantra of hopefully somewhat calming things leaving his mouth without him thinking about them. “I’m here, everything will be okay, no matter what happened, it’ll be fine. I’m here. I won’t leave you alone, whatever it is, I’m right here.”

Niall didn’t say anything at all, he just clung to Liam so desperately that it genuinely hurt, but the older man didn’t do anything about it except hugging back just as tight. He didn’t care whoever else was here, he honestly didn’t even take any notice of that because this felt as if he was dreaming or something. And not a good dream, even though finally being with Niall again, holding him in his arms, it was everything Liam had wanted to do minutes after walking out of the younger’s apartment. Just not like this. 

Eventually, Niall did seem to calm down a little and Liam became more aware of his surroundings, refusing to look at whoever else was there though, or whether they were looking at them because he really did not give two shits right now.

“Ni… do you wanna tell me what happened?” Liam tried, quietly, and slowly, not wanting to force the younger man into telling him if he didn’t want to even though he was dying on the inside. It was rather loud around them, there were also a lot of strangers and people who worked here but Liam managed to blur out all of that. “Is May- is she okay?”

“I don’t know… “ Niall half whispered and Liam almost missed it, his stomach turning quite uncomfortably. At least Niall seemed to have stopped crying, but now his voice just sounded dead, as far as Liam could tell because it was muffled by his coat. “She, uh… she was supposed to spend New Year’s with her grandparents, but um… she ran away. While I was working with Harry and… and we were looking for her but I only noticed she was gone way too late and… f-fuck. And t-then… the police s-said that s-she’s h-here, she g-got h-hurt and- fuck, I d-didn’t even n-notice, it’s m-my f-fault, she-“

“Hey, no, Niall. It’s not your fault in any way at all. Why would it be? You couldn’t have known she’d do that, you wouldn’t have made her spend the night with them if you had had the choice, you do absolutely everything for her and everyone can see that. It’s not your fault.” Liam tried to calm him, rocking them a bit and finally throwing a look over to where everyone else was, for the first time seeing May’s grandparents but they seemed to be busy talking to Niall’s parents anyways. 

“It i-is a-and n-now… t-they’ll w-win this c-case i-if s-she’s e-ever even g-gonna be a-alright a-again a-and… f-fuck, L-Li, what a-am I g-gonna do?” Niall sounded absolutely desperate, having broken out into tears yet again so Liam held on even tighter, pressing his lips against the side of the younger man’s head, rubbing his back. 

“You don’t have to think about them now, okay? Or about this stupid legal case, it doesn’t matter right now. May is going to be just fine, she’s being treated by doctors and someone found her and it’ll be okay. I know it will be. And if necessary we’ll do absolutely anything it takes to make sure she’s gonna get all healthy again. Okay?” As in, Liam was ready to call up whoever to get the best doctors flown in from wherever in this world, he didn’t care, he didn’t even know what was up with May, but judging by Niall’s reaction, it must’ve been bad. 

The younger man just cried some more instead of answering, but eventually, he did stop shaking again and Liam finally made himself pull back just a bit, keeping his arms around Niall though as they looked each other. He looked absolutely wrecked and exhausted and it was inappropriate right now to think about how gorgeous he was, but it still crossed Liam’s mind.

“Everything will be okay.” He repeated, but this time while looking Niall in the eyes, wiping over his cheek with his thumb, something he hadn’t done in what felt like years. 

Niall didn’t seem convinced at all, he just looked at Liam, taking a shaky breath before looking away. “She, um… she wanted to go to your place, I think.”

“What?” Right, this was really not what Liam had expected, he had kinda assumed May had just run away so she wouldn’t have to go to her grandparents.

“She doesn’t understand the situation, and- she misses you, a lot. And I don’t know how to explain it to her and I just… I don’t know what to do now. I don’t even know what exactly happened or where she is except getting surgery and- because so much is going on here and they don’t even know what happened because some stranger must’ve called the ambulance and it w-was s-something a-about a c-car and- a-and I-I… if y-you l-leave I t-think I’m l-literally g-going to l-lose it.” He only choked the last part out between fresh tears spilling over and Liam immediately felt his own eyes getting wet.

“I’m not leaving.” He promised immediately, kissing the younger’s forehead before pulling him back into another hug, letting him cry into his shoulder some more. There was nothing really he could’ve done right in this moment, except for being here for Niall and holding him, so that was exactly what he did. Now that he could.

Eventually Niall’s mother came over to them, and Liam only shared a sad smile with her because he honestly didn’t know how else to behave around her after everything. He felt guilty, but he also couldn’t have acted any differently and just- all of this sucked. 

“Do you wanna come and sit down? They’re not gonna say anything.” She was referring to May’s other grandparents, and Liam actually wouldn’t have cared, but he thought maybe Niall would have.

The younger man refused to let go of Liam or look at his mother, so Liam just looked at her a bit helplessly. 

“Niall, love, May is going to be fine. And you don’t have to worry about anything else right now, and I’m sure after all this we will find a solution for everything. One that involves Liam.” She added while looking at him, and Liam honestly couldn’t tell whether she was just trying to make them both feel better or actually meant any of it.

“They’d n-never agree to that… “ Niall mumbled, but he also didn’t let go. 

“You don’t know that, Ni. I think what happened tonight was a bit of a wake up call for them, I just talked with them.” Well, it did look like they were rather calm and just worried when Liam briefly looked over at them, but who knew?

It took more convincing until Niall finally let go of Liam and used the tissue his mother offered him while Liam kept his arm around him at all times, so he’d know he intended to keep his promise and stay right where he was. When they walked back to where everyone else was sitting, Niall chose the seat furthest away from May’s grandparents and Liam sat next to him without paying too much attention to them.

Honestly, looking at them kinda made him feel sick. 

No one really talked, Liam just let Niall rest his head on his shoulder, intertwining their fingers because god knew he was dying to finally hold Niall’s hand again. It felt so good that Liam almost felt guilty for enjoying it, but obviously he didn’t enjoy the situation, he just… fuck, he had missed Niall so much. He didn’t think he’d be able to walk away another time.

“So… you’re Liam?” When May’s grandfather spoke up, everyone listened up and Liam tried to keep it together as he looked over at him. 

“I am, yeah.” He agreed, not saying anything else though because he had nothing to say to these people. And he was pretty sure that wouldn’t change once he knew all the details. 

There was just a nod, nothing else, he did look as if he wanted to say something else because he shared a look with his wife, but then he simply looked away again and it got awkward again really quickly. Not that that mattered anyways. 

Liam didn’t know how much time passed, but Niall told Harry and Louis that they could leave at some point and they looked really guilty when they actually did, both promising they’d come back immediately if anything happened. Everyone else stayed though, and Liam kinda hoped that Niall was falling asleep on him, but he didn’t, he actually sat up a bit after a while, leaving his hand in Liam’s though, staring at their intertwined fingers.

“I… I understand if you wanna l-“

“I don’t.” Liam interrupted immediately. There was no place in the world he wanted to be at more than right where he was. “Look at me.”

So Niall did, after some hesitation, and the older man didn’t care who was looking at them right now, or listening to their conversation because it wasn’t a secret.

“I love you. I’m not going anywhere, not now and not tomorrow and probably never again unless you physically force me. We’re not doing this again.” He really meant it just like that, there HAD to be a solution for all of this, and Liam was determined to find it somehow.

The younger man seemed a bit taken aback by Liam being this straight forward and for a second, Liam was almost afraid that he would be upset by it or something, but it was quite the opposite actually. His smile was sad, and barely there, and it still didn’t get Liam’s heart to beat as fast as Niall’s reply. “I love you too… “

And then he just leaned forward to kiss Liam, without a warning really, and the older man could have cried from relief, despite the fact that they were definitely being watched, and he would have still deepened the kiss had they not been interrupted literally 4 seconds later.

“Mr. Horan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so late D: i missed my bus home and then i had to walk and anyways im sorry! 
> 
> i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! there arent so many left now, i think there will be 2 more but im not 100% certain! i might move the update schedule for next friday as well because im starting my summer job at the cinema so i might get home quite late but ill put it in the description :) 
> 
> hope you all have a good weekend <3


	24. Chapter 24

“That’s me, yeah, I- how is she? Where is she?” Niall pulled away from Liam at an instant as soon as the doctor had arrived, almost immediately jumping up as well before Liam had even fully realized what was going on. “Can I see her? Can I-“

“I’m afraid I don’t have all the information yet, I’m just here to give you an update.” The doctor explained and Liam reached for the younger man’s hand after getting up as well, squeezing a bit even though it felt limp in his. He was terrified of what they were about to hear, hell, he didn’t even bloody know what was going on or what had happened and it seemed neither did Niall. Or anyone else, because they were getting up as well now to listen in on the conversation. “Do you wish to go to a more private room?”

“No, it’s fine- I just need to know how she’s doing.” Niall sounded desperate and Liam was afraid he’d break out into tears any second as he threw a very quick look at him. He could feel his own heart hammering in his chest and he didn’t even know how to begin to imagine how Niall was feeling right now. 

“She is still in surgery, but so far everything is going alright. I don’t know how much you know, but we also got the police here if you feel stable enough to talk to them again.” This didn’t sound good, but Liam refrained from interjecting and just focused on being as calm as possible, for Niall’s sake. 

“Did they find out what happened?” Honestly, Niall looked really pale, more than normally, and Liam was suddenly afraid he might pass out any moment, especially when the doctor didn’t answer immediately. Maybe he didn’t know all the details either, or maybe he just didn’t wanna be the one having to tell Niall. Then again, it was kinda his job. “Was it really a car accident?”

“It appears to have been one, yes. The driver is also here, but I am not allowed to give you any information on that. All I can tell you right now is that it is definitely looking good for your daughter and we are doing our very best to help her.” The standard answer, but it still sounded rather genuine, as far as Liam could judge. Not that he had a lot of experience with this. 

“Thank you, um- I can talk to the police, it’s fine.” Niall continued, sounding slightly stressed and confused and Liam felt the same, so he made sure to keep on holding to the younger’s hand. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t feel stable enough, we also have a team of psychologists if you’d like t-“

“No, it’s alright. I’ll be fine. Thank you.” He sounded more as if he was trying to calm himself down than anyone else, taking a shaky breath while Liam watched him a bit worriedly, trying not to be too obvious about it though. 

“Okay, then I will tell them that. And I will be back as soon as I have any more updates on your daughter.” The doctor promised before leaving and Liam didn’t speak immediately, he just allowed Niall to have a few seconds to breathe, his stomach dropping a bit when he pulled back his hand but when he hugged Liam instead, the older man immediately returned it. 

“She’ll be fine, he sounded positive.” Liam tried after a moment of rubbing Niall’s back, feeling the younger man struggling to breathe calmly. 

“Yeah… I hope so.” Niall whispered, clenching his fingers in Liam’s clothes. “Will you go with me? If I talk to the police, I mean…”

“Of course, babe.” It kinda slipped out, that last word, but Liam barely even noticed because he was much more focused on other things right now. 

They did pull apart after quite a while to consult with Niall’s parents for a few minutes while May’s grandparents pretty much stayed quiet. So when the police did come and suggested they go somewhere private, Niall pulled Liam with him and they didn’t seem to care about that, so of course Liam went with him. Whatever would make him feel better, Liam wouldn’t hesitate to do it. 

There still weren’t full details on what had happened and Liam also wasn’t sure if he could follow the story fully because he didn’t even know everything that had happened prior to May running away, but what he got from it still made his stomach turn.

It seemed that May had indeed been trying to get to him, to talk to him about him and Niall and the whole situation or something, which had probably partly been prompted by the song Liam had left on his album. So he already felt guilty because of that, but this really wasn’t about how Liam was feeling right now.

May had apparently made it quite far, almost all the way to the train station, but because it was New Year’s Eve and some idiot had decided to get into his car while intoxicated, she had never actually reached it. Obviously it wouldn’t have been safe for her to get on a train to god knew where all by herself, but her getting involved in a car accident was even worse. Niall needed a couple seconds to actually be able to hear what had happened, or what the police believed had happened because there weren’t actually any eye witnesses, just someone who had heard the car crashing and then seen the scene afterwards.

The driver must’ve lost control of the car and May was small and it had been dark and he hadn’t hit her, but another parking car by the sidewalk where May had been walking. Basically, she seemed to have mostly gotten hurt from falling on the sidewalk, but also from pieces shattered glass and so that was the moment Niall started crying and Liam almost with him. The doctor from before had sounded somewhat positive but now Liam wasn’t sure anymore whether he had just been trying to calm Niall down.

May was having surgery, so who knew how bad it had really been, or what had really happened. No one would be able to answer that question, possibly not even her, if- well, Liam didn’t wanna finish that thought if he was being honest.

Niall was a complete mess when they went back to the waiting area, so Liam took it upon himself to update everyone else, all while holding the younger man, internally praying that everything would turn out to be fine. Niall’s parents tried to convince him to go home, but he straight up refused, which Liam could understand quite well. He wouldn’t have left this place for anything in the world either, even if it took the entire night.

He had no idea how late it was by the time that he promised Niall’s parents that he would stay here with Niall and take care of him before they had convinced them that they could drive home and sleep, and May’s grandparents apparently also decided to put all differences aside for now, asking Niall to call them as well as soon as he had any news.

So then it was only the two of them left, with absolutely zero chances of getting any sleep tonight. Not that Liam actually felt tired, and he doubted Niall did. 

“… did you really write that song about me?” Niall asked after it felt as if they had been quiet for hours on end, and they probably had. Liam wouldn’t have been surprised to see the sun rising again at some point, but he doubted it was actually as late as it felt right now.

“I did.” He confirmed without a second thought, because it was true after all. “I’m sorry I never played it to you before… it never felt like the right time.”

“I know I said I wouldn’t want you to do that, but… I’m kinda happy you did.” Niall admitted after a moment, his head on Liam’s shoulder and the older man almost felt himself smiling. “It’s a beautiful song.”

“I’m glad you think so, I was afraid you’d be upset or- not that I thought I’d ever find out about your reaction. I mean… I thought about asking Louis, but… I didn’t even know if you knew it was for you and- anyways… I’m glad you like it.” He truly was, and also relieved. But more than that, talking about this was a rather good distraction from what was actually going on right now. 

“I really do… “ Niall confirmed again, and Liam turned his head to kiss the top of Niall’s, closing his eyes for a moment. “I’m scared of what’s going to happen now… I know you keep saying it’s not my faul-“

“It’s not your fault, Niall. And did you see the looks on their faces before they left? I think they really got a reality check tonight and it was a terrible thing that it all led up to this, but I truly don’t think they will still want legal action after this.” Seriously, they would have to be truly heartless and Liam did believe that they loved May, even if their way of trying to get to spend more time with her was highly unorthodox. “There has to be a way to figure this all out, privately.”

“I really hope so… but if May’s just gonna be all fine again then that’s all I can ask for.” The younger man half whispered, probably because his voice would have broken again otherwise and Liam was sure he’d be crying again now if he hadn’t already done so much of that tonight. May was still in surgery, or they just hadn’t come to update Niall yet because there was still so much going on here tonight, so many accidents because of people drunk driving. “I don’t even wanna imagine what else could have happened… “

“Don’t imagine it, that didn’t happen, okay? They’re taking care of her, and she’s going to be fine.” Liam had to believe that with all his heart or he would literally go insane. And Niall with him. “… do you really think she wanted to get to my place?”

“Pretty sure, yeah… she misses you a lot, she doesn’t understand what’s happened of course and I didn’t know how to explain and… I think she wanted to talk to you about it, because I never give clear answers. And I kinda thought for a while that she was getting used to how things are now, but… I think she was just good at overplaying it. Makes me feel like the shittiest parent ever… like… could I have done any of it any worse?” Niall seemed to truly mean it, and it pained Liam to hear him talking this way even though he also knew where Niall was coming from, from his own point of view. “First she gets used to you like a second parent, then I make her a liar, then you’re just gone and I never properly explain why and she has to be at her grandparents’ all the time and now this… it’s like I’ve done exactly what they’re trying to sue me.”

“Niall, you’re not a bad father. You’re doing your best and-“

“What if my best isn’t the best for her? What if it’s not actually good enough? What if they were right even without knowing it? I know they were just waiting for a chance to get May, but maybe it would’ve really been the best for her, to either grow up with them or my parents. Maybe I really was too young and immature, and still am, and maybe-“

“And maybe you’re just overthinking because you’re afraid, which is more than understandable. May loves you, she wants to be with no one but you and you’re giving her everything she needs. She’s healthy and smart and kind and polite and happy. She’s doing well in school, she’s got friends, she’s well behaved. Just because this happened doesn’t make everything else undone, and none of it was even your fault. Shit things happen, they will continue to happen, but it doesn’t make you a bad parent. And May will be fine and then we will figure this all out, together.” Liam was absolutely desperate for the younger man to believe him, but he wasn’t sure how to actually make him, how to word it so that Niall would stop doubting himself. “I’m sorry for everything that happened, the pictures and New York and-“

“Li, you’re the last person who’s at fault. And I always knew all of this could happen, or even worse things, so it’s my fault. But… I don’t regret it, that’s not what I mean at all, I just wish that things were different, I know that’s pointless and I know it’s stupid, I just… I wanna be with you more than anything, but I just didn’t know what to do and- and I still don’t. I don’t know what will happen.” No one did, and Liam really got Niall’s inner conflict without the younger man having to actually say any of it out loud so he stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about what to say.

“You don’t have to figure anything out right now, okay? Or know what to do. But I promise I’ll be here for whatever you decide and whenever you need me. Or whatever May needs.” Hopefully nothing, Liam wanted nothing more in this world than for her to be alright right now because he felt as if they could somehow survive everything else following that then. 

“Thank you… it really means a lot. Especially after what I did and-“

“You didn’t do anything at all, Nialler. Pretty sure anyone in your situation would’ve done the same. It was the right thing to do.” And Liam was painfully aware that there was a possibility that their ways would have to part again after this, but just for now, for tonight, he would pretend that they wouldn’t. Because he wasn’t sure how he’d manage to walk away one more time. 

“It still felt awful… “ Niall mumbled, moving a bit until he lifted his head from Liam’s shoulder and the older man turned his so they could briefly look at each other. “I love you. And no matter what happened… or what will still happen, I’d never regret us.”

“I love you too.” Liam told him with a sad smile before pecking Niall’s lips, neither of them feeling up for deepening the kiss right now. But there was no need to anyways, they both knew how they felt about one another, and even though their future was really up in the air right now, Liam decided to keep on hoping that some miracle would happen.

 

\---------------------

 

Niall was actually pretty certain he must’ve fallen asleep on Liam’s shoulder a few times, but it was still in the middle of the night and dark outside when a doctor came to them once more to tell them that May hadn’t woken up yet but that they could go and see her. Honestly, he didn’t even realize just how relieved he was before he saw her, as if he hadn’t been quite sure whether the doctor had been telling the truth or not about her being alright for now.

Then again, Niall wasn’t quite sure anymore how to feel once he learned what exactly the surgeons had had to do to her. 

“We have her monitored at all times until she wakes up, the surgery went fine, no complications, she should make a full recovery, but she is going to need physical therapy after her cast comes off. She’s still growing so it’s important that we get on that as soon as she’s able to. The bone in her leg was a clean break but there were several splinters that had to be removed. The glass pieces didn’t cause any severe damage luckily, they weren’t deep enough but she is going to have trouble sitting up for a while until that his healed. As for her face, it does look bad but it’s really only superficial scratches. As for her wrist-“

At this point, Niall was already feeling dizzy, but he was sitting down in a chair next to May’s bed, staring at his daughter who didn’t really look like herself right now at all, choking back tears. At least until he and Liam were alone with her. Or as alone as they could be, because it wasn’t a closed off room. 

“That was more difficult to figure out, but she should regain full movement of it again. She’s young so she is going to bounce back more quickly than it will seem at first, but I definitely think this could have ended a lot worse and I am positive she is going to make a full recovery, even if it might take time. I know this is all a lot to take in right now, so I’m going to leave you to it, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact any of the nurses.” The surgeon left after they had said goodbye and Niall had thanked him, still trying his very hardest to keep it together.

But that was pretty much over once Liam sat on the armrest of his chair and put a hand on his back. “She is going to be fine, Ni.”

“Yeah… “ Was all the younger man brought out, right before the first tear spilled over and he leaned against Liam, having to close his eyes and take a deep breath or he would have literally already been bawling. He was barely holding onto May’s hand, listening to the beeping sound of the machine she was hooked up to, almost afraid to open his eyes and look again. “She doesn’t even look like herself…”

“I know, but you heard what he said, it will take time but she’s going to be all fine again, and that’s what’s most important, right? It’s the best outcome possible.” Liam was right, and just minutes ago Niall had been worried whether May would even make a full recovery or not, but upon having seen her, he had almost had another breakdown. “Everything will be okay, babe, breathe.”

“I’m trying… “ Niall choked a bit, blinking his eyes open to stare at May’s scratched up face once more. Pretty sure if he could’ve seen what was underneath all the bandages then he would have truly lost it. 

“Take your time.” Liam encouraged him, rubbing his back and Niall tried to take his advice, as much as he could manage. At least May would be fine, no matter how bad it looked right now, and Liam was here and really, that was all Niall could ask for in this moment anyways.

 

\-----------------------

 

May wasn’t sure where she was or what had happened or what was even going on, but when she tried to open her eyes, everything was a little too bright, like when her dad turned on the lights when he tried to wake her for school when she really didn’t wanna go. Except now she felt really bad, as if she was sick, but somehow everything also hurt and it was terrible and May wished she could’ve gone back to sleep, but she couldn’t. All in all, it was a terrible experience.

“D-Daddy?” She tried, her voice make her throat scratch and then she had to cough and that was only making everything a lot worse. So naturally, she started crying.

“Shh, I’m here, bug, everything’s okay, I’m here. Does it hurt a lot?” At least her dad was here, that calmed May down a little bit, but she still didn’t wanna fully open her eyes just yet because she tried moving and it only made her cry more. “I promise it will all be okay, sweetheart, I’m here, okay? The doctors are going to make it better in a second.”

He kissed May’s forehead, and May felt him stroking her hair but she didn’t wanna look, she just wanted to sleep more so it would all go away. “It h-hurts.”

“I know, love, I know. I’m sorry, I wish I could make it stop.” Her dad told her, but May wasn’t even listening all too much, she tried to open her eyes again, having to close them a few more times before she managed to keep them open. “Liam will be back with someone in just a second, okay? And-“

“L-Liam?” Now that did distract May for just a teeny tiny second but it also wasn’t enough for her to feel any better. She didn’t even know where she was, she couldn’t remember anything at all, just- oh. Maybe she could. “I-I… I w-wanted t-to t-talk to h-him a-and-“

“I know, sweetheart, shh. He’s- look, he’s coming back and the nurse will give you something to make you feel better, okay?” Her dad also looked as if he was crying when May looked at him, and then she saw Liam as well but she felt kinda weird and a little confused and dizzy and anyways, she felt bad.

“I’m s-scared… “ She told her dad, sniffing a bit but she couldn’t wipe over her eyes because her hand was hurting too much. “L-Liam… “

“I’m here, May, it’ll be okay.” Liam promised, leaning down to kiss her forehead before letting the nurse get closer to May instead.

She was really nice, she asked May a lot about how she was doing and where it hurt, but May still continued to cry when she put a needle in the back of her hand because it had already been hurting and now it hurt even more. May just wanted it all to stop and she wanted to go home.

When the nurse left again, May didn’t feel any better even though the nurse had told her that she would, so she just continued crying while her dad was stroking her hair and Liam sat on her other side, both of them saying things about how it would all be alright but May wasn’t sure if she believed them. “W-Where a-are w-we?”

“At the hospital, love. Don’t worry, okay? I’m here and Liam is here and we won’t leave you alone and you will feel better soon.” He kept saying that, but WHEN?

So that didn’t help at all, but eventually, May felt herself getting a bit more sleepy again, but also, it started to hurt just a little bit less and then she did remember more of what had happened, but not all of it. She still didn’t know why she was here, or why Liam was here and… and did that mean… “D-Daddy?”

“Yes, darling?” Her dad looked as if he was crying as well and May hated that but she couldn’t concentrate too well. 

“D-Did… did you a-and L-Liam… d-did you s-stop f-fighting?” That was why May had wanted to talk to Liam after all, to tell him how much she and her dad were missing him, that they needed to make up and have it all be like it had been before.

“We did, it’s all good, you don’t have to worry about that, okay? Are you feeling a little better now?” Well… just a little.

“Y-Yeah… I’m s-sorry I r-ran a-away… I w-wanted to talk t-to L-Liam.” She told her dad because she was sure he was upset, she wasn’t supposed to run away but she had just wanted everyone to be happy again.

“I know, I’m not mad, I’m just happy you’re okay. Do you… do you remember what happened?” Did she?

“Umm… “ May started, sniffing a bit, knowing better now than to move her hand again. “I-I… I think… there w-was a c-car… but… I d-don’t know… “

“Okay, you don’t have to remember, it’s okay. Are you tired? You’ll feel a lot better if you try and sleep a bit I think.” May didn’t really believe that, so she just shook her head, relieved that she started to feel a tiny bit better, that she could look around a bit now. And notice things she didn’t like.

“I d-don’t w-want a c-cast… “ She whimpered once she noticed that that was why she couldn’t move her leg, because it was in a really big cast and… she didn’t even remember getting hurt at all. 

Her dad looked really sad about it as well, but then Liam said something and he sounded a lot more happy, he was even smiling at her when he leaned forward against the bed. “Hey, I already had a few casts as well and I know that they are really annoying, but we can draw on it, yeah? And all your friends can draw on it as well if you want and then it’s going to look really, really cool. And once they take it off, you can even keep it.”

“R-Really?” May sniffed, feeling a bit better about it now. “Did y-you keep y-yours?”

“A few, yeah. My mom has them though because they’re really old. From when I was a child. I once broke my thumb as well, I know it really hurts but it all healed, see?” So he showed her how he could move his thumb and it gave May some hope. More than that, she was just really happy that Liam was here though.

“I r-really m-missed you.” She told him, without thinking about it. “And m-my dad missed y-you too. I showed him t-that song. I know you s-said n-not t-to, but… but I thought m-maybe you could make u-up if he hears it.”

“Thank you for showing it to him, May. I know I said not to when I played it to you on the plane, but I’m really glad you told him. I should’ve done it myself a lot sooner, so you did a good job.” He smiled at her, and May tried to smile back, feeling proud of herself. By now, she really did feel a lot better. “I really missed you both as well. I’m sorry for yelling so much the last time.”

“It’s o-okay… is e-everything going to be n-normal now?” Why would it not be, Liam was here again and he and May’s dad weren’t fighting anymore, but it bothered her a bit that she didn’t get an immediate yes.

“We, um… we still have to talk about a few things.” Her dad told her after a second, which upset May a little but she tried to not be a baby about it. “But you don’t have to think about that now, Liam is going to stay here, okay? And we’re not mad at each other or anything. Are you thirsty?”

So May said yes, because she knew her dad didn’t want her to ask any more questions, so she didn’t. But she still had a lot of them.

Instead they talked about other things until eventually, May started to feel really sleepy again and she wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but she did remember feeling a lot happier by then that her dad and Liam weren’t fighting anymore. And even though she would have rather been home right now and not have this stupid cast or all these itchy bandages on her, she decided that she would have to believe her dad when he said that it would all be okay. After all, he never lied to her.

 

\------------------------

 

“Li, you can really sleep, it’s okay, I’ll be fine.” Niall told him again because he could see the older man struggling quite a bit across the bed. He was leaning on the mattress with his elbow as well, but he sat up more straight when the younger man spoke up. 

“I’m not tired.” Liam clearly lied, right before letting out a quiet laugh as Niall playfully rolled his eyes. Ever since May had woken up for a bit and actually talked and even laughed towards the end before falling back asleep, Niall was feeling so much better and more energetic, he almost felt as if everything would truly be okay. “This chair is too uncomfortable to fall asleep anyways.”

“You can also-“

“And I’m not going home.” He interrupted Niall before he had even had the chance to finish saying that. Of course Niall didn’t want Liam to go home, preferably never again, but he would’ve understood if he needed to actually lie in a bed and sleep for a bit. Didn’t mean he couldn’t come back. “But you can and I’ll stay.”

“Then we’ll both stay.” There was no way in hell Niall would leave May, he was still holding her hand while she was sleeping, wishing there was more he could’ve done. When she had woken up at first crying about all the pain, it had almost killed him, and he knew there’d be a lot more of that but he would just have to trust that it WOULD get better as time went on. They’d just have to be patient, and grateful that nothing worse had happened. “Do you think we need to call my parents and… everyone else?”

“No, let them sleep. They’ll never know when she really woke up anyways, and she’s asleep now and you texted them already that she’s fine.” And there had been no response, so everyone was indeed sleeping, which was good for them, Niall was just a bit afraid of May’s grandparents being angry with him for not waking them. But then again, he was also afraid they’d be mad if he DID wake them, so he really couldn’t win here. And apparently Liam could read his thoughts. “If they dare to say anything at all then I’ll handle it, I promise.”

“Thank you… “ Niall truly meant it, and he wished they could’ve been closer right now but there wasn’t all that much space and a bed between them. “I couldn’t do this without you. Any of it.”

“I’m glad I can help… and that you called me and want me here. Because I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else in this world either.” The way he said it so genuine almost made Niall tear up, but he had done enough of that the past few hours so instead, he just reached across the bed for a moment and Liam smiled as he took Niall’s hand in his, squeezing a bit. “I might have to leave you for a second though because I think otherwise I will literally starve to death.”

“I didn’t even think about food yet.” Truly, Niall hadn’t even thought about whether he COULD even be hungry or thirsty or whatever else, but now that Liam had said it… 

“I’ll see if I can find anything, okay? I’ll be right back.” The older man promised, giving Niall’s fingers another squeeze before he let go to get up, stretching a bit before leaning down to kiss May’s forehead, and the sight almost melted Niall’s heart. He couldn’t rip Liam from May’s life again, it would have been wrong.

Liam walked around the bed, kissing Niall before leaving the younger man alone with his daughter. Now that there was no one to talk to anymore, Niall suddenly did feel a bit of tiredness washing over him, so he tried to distract himself with his phone for a bit, suddenly remembering that none of them had ever updated Zayn on what had happened after he hadn’t answered his phone, so he gave him a quick rundown of everything. Also, Niall furthermore realized that they had completely missed the fact that it was already the first of January. Not that that was important right now, but just for a second, he allowed himself to be grateful that after everything that had happened, he had gotten to start this year knowing May would be fine and also with Liam by his side. After literally having been 100% certain that they’d never end up together again. And yet they were here.

The older man came back after a while, with snacks from a vending machine, and Niall would have laughed at everything he had bought had he not felt so bad for the older man for being so hungry and getting nothing normal to eat. They shared the snacks because Niall was kinda hungry as well, and at least it kept them awake even though it wasn’t the most nutritious meal. 

When it was getting earlier, Niall expected his phone to receive messages from everyone as they were waking up, but he truly did not expect the first one to be from Zayn. Or not Zayn, but definitely from his phone.

 

_5:52 Zayn  
Hi, this is a friend of zayn, I just found his phone at my place. i don’t know you, but I hope may will be alright, whoever that is. Not to alarm you or anything, but zayn is at the hospital as well, think hell be fine though, not sure what happened, I think a car accident._

 

So then all of Niall’s slightly better mood was undone within seconds.

 

\-----------------------

 

“It can’t be him… but what if it was? Like… how am I ever gonna- fuck.” Niall was a mess after that text message from Zayn’s phone, and understandably so, but now May’s grandparents were on their way here as well and Harry and Louis had woken up also, and Liam was running out of ways to calm the younger man down. “And the doctor even said the driver is here as well, and that he was drunk and Zayn-“

“Just because Zayn gets drunk a lot doesn’t mean he was the driver.” Liam tried to defend Zayn, even though he didn’t know what for actually. It made him feel a little sick also to just imagine it. “A lot of people get in accidents or get hurt on a daily basis, especially on New Year’s Eve.”

“I know, but… still. I don’t think I could ever even look at him again.” Niall was as pale again as he had been earlier, but maybe he was also really sleep deprived like Liam. 

“I can go and find out what room he’s in and then just pretend I’m here because of some other reason and try to find out.” Liam offered, though he didn’t actually wanna leave this place. He had decided to squeeze himself next to Niall after a nurse had moved May’s bed to a private room, wanting to be close to him because who knew what would happen once everyone else came back here. 

“I… I don’t even know if I really wanna know.” Niall admitted, but then he seemed to feel guilty for it at the same time. “But he’s also my friend and I’m also worried about him and… fuck, why does everything have to suck so much?”

“It’ll be okay. May will be fine. Apparently Zayn is doing alright as well. And… and whatever else happened, it’s already over. I also understand what you mean though, and I’m not sure if I wanna find out if he was the driver either, but… we’re gonna have to find out eventually.” Sadly. It would have truly been the last string for Niall so Liam was really scared, also because if it had really been Zayn and May’s grandparents would find out about it… all hell would break loose. Again. “Maybe I should really try and find out and-“

“I think you should stay here, at least until May’s grandparents get here. I think it’d be better if they saw you were here the whole night as well, and how much you care about her. I mean… maybe not everything is lost. Maybe they are actual human beings after all.” Niall tried to turn it into a joke, though it was clear that neither of them were amused right now.

“Maybe.” Liam echoed, but he remained seated, deciding that Niall was right. And it would probably be better for them if they were both as clueless as everyone else for now because it’d be more than just hard to pretend if this turned out to be true. 

So they waited while May was still asleep, not having to try too hard not to wake her because she had been sleeping for hours with everything going on around her and her bed being moved. It were the pain meds, but Liam was just relieved that she was getting rest because she definitely needed it. And maybe it was better for her to asleep when her grandparents arrived as well, even though they seemed to have somehow forgotten about a certain lawsuit anyways.

“Oh my god, she looks terrible.” Was the first thing May’s grandmother said after Niall had texted them the room number and they had arrived, looking as if they had gotten a maximum of 2 hours of sleep. “And they really think she’s going to make a full recovery?”

“She will.” Niall confirmed, firmly, and Liam squeezed him a bit, staying quiet though. “When she was awake for a bit a few hours ago and they gave her something to manage the pain she was fine for a while before she fell back asleep.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. It’s still terrifying… did they already talk to you about who the driver was? He’s here as well, isn’t he?” Liam refrained from looking at Niall upon hearing this because he didn’t wanna make it suspicious, so he just waited for Niall to make up something, watching May’s grandparents getting themselves chairs on the opposite side of the bed. 

“Yeah, um- no, they’ve not talked to me about that.” Niall was telling the truth, but he still coughed afterwards and Liam was afraid that that was going to prompt more questions, but luckily he was wrong.

“He deserves the worst anyways, who knows if he even survived that, driving drunk… if he’s alive you have to sue him for everything he’s got.” Well, they knew all about that, didn’t they? 

“I mean… I don’t wish death upon him.” Niall quickly threw in, but no one but Liam paid attention to him anyways and they shared the briefest look. 

“Poor thing… but at least nothing worse happened, this could’ve ended so badly… did she tell you why she ran away when she was awake?” Liam straightened his back a bit upon hearing that, but he let Niall talk instead.

“Yeah, she, uh… she wanted to go and talk to Liam, like we thought.” It was true and there was no need to lie about it because May would have probably told them at some point anyways, but Niall sounded a bit hesitant upon saying it, scared almost, so Liam was surprised when he added something else. “She really misses him and she doesn’t know what’s going on, so… “

May’s grandparents just looked at each other upon hearing that, and honestly, Liam was terrified all of a sudden that they would reach in their pockets and pull out a new lawsuit or something, but they didn’t. Thank fucking god. 

“We should definitely talk about all this in the near future… possibly with Liam, if he agrees to that.” Now THAT was a surprise. “We talked about this on the way here already and… we agree that we might-“

“-know Zayn is here?! … oh.”

When Harry and Louis entered the room and interrupted May’s grandmother, they quickly shut their mouths the second they took in the scene, Louis especially looking a bit guilty as he cleared his throat. 

“Sorry about that, um… but we just saw Zayn while looking for the room.” He explained and Liam tried to tell him with his eyes to shut the hell up, but he didn’t even seem to realize. “He looks really bad, they just kinda like, rolled him past us, he was asleep as far as I could tell. Now we know why he didn’t answer his phone.”

“Yeah, uh, maybe we should go and see how he’s doing.” Liam quickly jumped in, trying to looks surprised, because he knew Niall was panicking on the inside right now and he wasn’t going to leave his daughter to go look for Zayn. 

“He’s asleep anyways, he looks like he got in some accident as well… how’s May doing?” Louis switched the topic and Liam hoped that May’s grandparents weren’t thinking anything of this situation. After all, they weren’t particularly fond of Zayn anyways. 

So Niall gave them an update as well even though not a lot had happened since he had texted everyone what was going on now and that she would be fine, and Liam sat on the armrest of the younger’s chair again so one of the others could sit down as well. Sadly, May’s grandparents did not pick the conversation back up so it remained a mystery for now what they had been about to say, whether they had actually been about to apologize. The fact that they were suddenly okay with Liam taking part in the conversation though was a good thing… right?

After twenty minutes or so, Liam suggested that he and Louis go look for Zayn again because it just wasn’t leaving him any rest and even though Niall looked a bit terrified when Liam kissed him goodbye for now, he also didn’t try to stop him. 

“The tension in that room can’t be good for May.” Was the first thing Louis said once they were walking down the hallway together and Liam had to agree on that. “Did they say anything about what they wanna do now? Like, do they still wanna take her from Niall? It seemed a bit inappropriate to ask him via text message.”

“You know the word inappropriate?” Liam joked and his friend rolled his eyes. “We don’t know yet, but they are willing to talk and have me be there as well, so… let’s hope for the best. There’s, uh, a bit of a problem though.”

“Oh god, what now?” Louis sounded terrified, probably because he thought it was about May’s health, so Liam quickly carried on. 

“Before you came, Niall got a text from one of Zayn’s friends that Zayn is here and-“

“And you didn’t check up on him yet?” Right, that did make them look really bad.

“Well, no because- isn’t it weird he’s here? And apparently he’s gotten in a car accident also.” Liam continued, not actually wanting to say it out loud but Louis wasn’t catching on, so he was kinda forced to interrupt him.

“You mean… maybe it was the same driver that-“

“No, maybe _he_ was the driver.” Saying it out loud kinda made Liam feel sick, but what didn’t these days. 

“Just because he likes to drink? Liam, seriously, that’s a really bad accusation. You used to get drunk every weekend. And weekday sometimes. And-“

“Okay, okay, I got it. We just considered the possibility, but the real reason we didn’t go check on him is we didn’t wanna leave May alone and Niall thought I should be there when her grandparents arrived.” Right, now that sounded like a cheap excuse kind of. “Anyways, we’re about to find out what happened to him.”

Louis still didn’t seem convinced as they asked someone for Zayn’s room number, only then thinking about how weird it actually was that the two of them were the ones checking on Zayn out of all people when they knew him the least. But maybe that’d be a good thing if everything turned bad and then at least Liam could think about how to tell Niall. 

Zayn was awake when they entered the room that he shared with someone else, so they tried to be quiet because the stranger was sleeping, but Zayn kinda messed that up anyways.

“Oh my god, what are you guys doing here?! How’d you know I’m here?” He sounded so surprised and confused that Liam genuinely felt bad. Also because he did look really terrible, almost as bad as May but he seemed to have not broken any bones at least. 

“One of your friends texted Niall from your phone and Louis and Harry saw y-“

“Wait, Niall, he- how is May doing? Is she alright?!” So that was the moment Liam kinda froze, his mouth hanging open a little and Louis took over for him.

“How’d you know what happened to her?” Louis asked, his voice having gotten a bit harder all of a sudden and Liam already saw the life flashing before his eyes. 

“Because I was there.” Zayn continued, as if it was something he was actually PROUD of or whatever and in this very moment, Liam did kinda wish something worse had happened to him. What the hell?!

“You-“

“Are you being for real?! You’re just sitting here telling us that all casual?” Liam kinda exploded right then and there and he didn’t even wanna know what Niall was going to do once he found out. “Have you lost your _mind?!_ Drunk driving in the middle of the night and you actually got the fucking NERVE to-“

“Hold up, what are you yelling at _me_ for?! I wasn’t even drunk, I didn’t have a single drink last night.” And Liam was supposed to believe that?!

“You could at least have the balls to not lie straight to our faces about-“

“I’m not lying, why would I- you know what? Fuck you, Liam, you’re the one who left Niall and just walked away and then had a fucking dating scandal on Christmas Eve and-“

“SCANDAL?! It was a bloody business meeting, how was I supposed to know that-“

“Guys, can you both shut up? I think this man wants to sleep.” Louis interrupted them, throwing an apologetic glance at the stranger in the other bed, who looked well annoyed. “So what happened, Z?”

“He put May in hospital, that’s what happened and now-“

“You think it was ME who drove that damn car?! Jesus. I was driving home from the friend I left my phone with, genius, _sober_ , and I saw a CHILD on the sidewalk, alone, so I stopped and when I got out of the car I realized it was May out of all people, and then some asshole lost control of his car before I could call out to her, so I ran and I pulled her away last fucking second or that car would’ve run right over her. So where is she?!” Oh.

“She’s here as well, she’s going to be fine, don’t worry, she’s got it worse than you, but they said she’d make a full recovery. So basically… you saved her life?” Louis asked, clearly surprised and so was Liam. But also really guilty. “What happened after? Did you call the ambulance?”

“I’ve got no bloody idea what happened after, I woke up here and I didn’t know what to do because I forgot my phone at a friend’s place and couldn’t contact anyone… so May is going to be fine? Thank god, I was really scared for a few minutes.” He sounded genuinely relieved, which now made a lot of sense in hindsight and Liam felt terrible. He only really woke up from his trance though when Louis elbowed him quite hard and painfully.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you, I genuinely thought- when you asked about her… I really thought you were the driver. I’m sorry.” Liam apologized again, feeling his face turning hot from freaking out for no reason at all when he should’ve actually been thankful instead. 

“It’s okay, I get it, I’m just glad May is going to be alright… Jesus, what a night… who even called you? Just because I know you and Niall got some… issues.” Right, the situation was even MORE complicated than that.

“Um, Niall called me.” Liam quickly explained, not knowing how much further to go, but turned out he also didn’t really have a chance to. “We-“

“Aren’t you that singer?” The stranger in the room with them suddenly interrupted really randomly, and Liam had to admit that in this very moment, he didn’t even immediately realize that the man was talking to him. 

“I, um, depends?” Liam tried because maybe the man meant someone completely different and he refrained from rolling his eyes at Louis when his friend clearly had to hold back a laugh. Well, and then another one once the stranger continued. 

“Well, whoever the hell you are, I still wanna sleep and not listen to your entire life stories, so if you don’t mind, could you tone it done a bit, yeah?” Now Liam felt kinda arrogant for having been annoyed about having to write an imaginary autograph.

So they tried their hardest to do that and Louis promised to get Zayn’s other friends to come here and bring him his phone before they left a while later. Liam would have texted Niall the good news, but he had been stupid enough to leave his phone with Niall, so now the younger man was probably freaking out because of how long they had been gone for.

“This whole situation is mad, isn’t it? Like… so much has happened so fast, I can barely even keep up. Where do you and Niall stand now anyways? You seem quite close again.” Louis started once they were walking back to May’s room and Liam was a bit distracted because of how quickly he wanted to actually be back with Niall and tell him. “What if they still wanna sue him?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t walk away again now, like… it was terrible. And I’d do anything Niall wants to do now but also… I feel like we can figure this all out somehow. It’s terrible that May had to get hurt so badly for everyone to change their minds, but… “ But she’d make a full recovery according to the doctors and the situation before had been awful for everyone involved as well.

“She can’t remember any of it though, she can’t even remember Zayn, so that’s something at least. It’ll take a while for her to recover, but if everything turns out well as a result she’s gonna be happy over it as well. I mean, all this only happened ‘cos she was desperate to get you back.” True, but it still felt morbid to Liam to think that way right now. “Maybe all of it truly was fate. Like, the chances of Zayn being there to pull her out of the way? Pretty much zero if you think about it rationally.”

“So you think we can work this out?” Liam asked, hopefully, even though it didn’t really make a difference what he thought anyways. “After being the first one to tell Niall he should prepare himself to break up with me?”

“I was just being a good friend when I told him that, I didn’t want either of you hurt. But yeah, I think you might actually be able to work it out, depends on May’s grandparents. They seem rather willing to talk it out.” For now.

As expected, Niall was really nervous when they came back, so Liam decided to just announce it in front of everybody that Zayn had kind of saved May’s life, just so they all knew as well, but it was only really Niall who seemed to care all that much. May’s grandparents were more concerned with the fact that Zayn might have possibly known the driver or something because they seemed to really be out for blood. Understandable, but also, Liam was a bit hoping they’d put their energy towards that for now. 

May woke up again a while later, and she was still in pain but she did immediately get something for that from a nurse, so despite the fact that she looked really rough, she was genuinely handling this like a champ.

“And you really don’t remember anything, darling?” May’s grandmother kept asking for some reason, and Liam could tell Niall was annoyed but didn’t say anything.

“Hmm. No.” The little girl decided, eating some of the sweets Louis had gotten her without asking Niall if it was okay. Just like always. “I wanna see uncle Zayn, I didn’t know he was there. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, he’s doing a lot better than you, actually.” Liam wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d discharge Zayn tomorrow even, Harry had gone to talk to him for a bit much to everyone’s surprise, and Liam knew Niall felt bad about not going, but he didn’t wanna leave May’s side.

“Would I be dead if he didn’t pull me away?” Right.

“No, love, you wouldn’t.” Niall jumped in immediately as everyone shared a few uncomfortable glances because of how casually May had asked, while chewing. “You were still really lucky.”

“One of my friends had a cast on her arm once, and she had it for, like… _forever_. How am I gonna go to school now?” A good question, actually, Liam had already told Niall he could pay a private teacher for her and just for once, the younger man AND May’s grandparents hadn’t seemed all too put off by the idea. 

“We’ll figure all of it out, okay? For now you’re still on break from school anyways.” May just nodded to that, looking rather thoughtful for a moment.

“Can my friends come visit me?” Of course that was the thing she cared about the most, and Liam actually felt so much relief that she was starting to become more and more like herself again. “They can draw on my cast, right? Liam said they could.”

“I’m sure they’d love to.” Niall told her, trying to be subtle about moving the candy bag out of her reach, but she noticed anyways and held onto it.

“How about I draw something on there? Pretty sure I’m way better at it than all your friends.” Louis suggested from the corner of the room, actually sounding somewhat serious. Liam wouldn’t have been surprised. “I’m like, a total pro at drawing.”

“Umm… “ May made, sharing a look with Niall and Liam had to choke back a laugh. “Can you draw as good as Liam?”

“I’m so much better than Liam. He’s just an amateur. Here, I’ll show you.” Yes, and then Louis did get a pen from somewhere, but May didn’t let him touch her cast and requested he did some sketches on a piece of paper much to everyone’s amusement. 

It should’ve maybe felt weird, all of them together in this room with actually no tension whatsoever, and then also Niall’s parents once they arrived, which definitely were too many people, so Louis also left to keep Zayn company instead and the nurses were still a bit upset even then. But because May was a child, they let it pass for now. 

Liam could’ve gotten May any room in any hospital as well as any doctor, but Niall didn’t want that, so they all stayed here.

“When can we go home?” The question had been inevitable, but everyone had hoped it wouldn’t come after only a few hours.

“I don’t know yet, we’ll have to ask the doctors. But I’m afraid not so soon.” Niall tried to tell May slowly, but she sighed anyways. “But I’ll stay with you, you don’t have to be scared, okay? And we’ll try our best to make it fun.”

“And Liam is staying too, right?” The fact that May only asked about him made Liam feel a bit warmer inside, but he was also slightly worried about the reactions some other people might have had to that. 

“Of course I’ll stay if you want me to.” Liam quickly told her with a smile when Niall seemed unsure, reaching out to softly ruffle her hair a bit, not too much though because she seemed so easily broken right now. 

“And when we can go home then everything will be like it was, right? And you and my dad are gonna be happy again?” May asked out of nowhere, with everyone there, so that wasn’t the most comfortable thing. But they should’ve expected it. 

“It’s… comp-“

“Complicated? But why? Everyone was happy before.” She was right, and there were 4 adults in the room right now because Niall’s parents had gone to pick up some stuff for May from Niall’s place, and no one knew how to explain the situation to a 7 year old in a hospital bed. “I don’t want you to leave again. And my dad doesn’t want you to either, he was crying a lot and-“

“May-“

“And he works a lot now and I don’t like it. I just want it all to be like it was.” Now she sounded almost as if she’d start crying again any second and Liam didn’t know what to say, he felt a bit helpless right now and he could tell that Niall felt the same way. He didn’t know what May’s grandparents were thinking right now, but they couldn’t have been happy hearing all this out of her mouth either if they actually cared about her. “Can it please be like it was?”

“I don’t know, love… “ Niall answered after a moment, throwing a look at her grandparents and Liam didn’t actually dare to do the same right now. “Everything was just really stressful lately, because of my jobs and everything and… and you like spending time with your grandparents, right?”

“Yeah, but they could also come visit us sometime, right? They’ve never even seen my room, I wanna show them. And they don’t really know Liam and most of my friends have a big family and they all spend time together and why can’t we be like that as well?” Okay, now she was really getting to the deep questions. “Is it because of my mom?”

“May, I don’t think we should talk a-“

“Why do you think it would be because of your mom?” May’s grandfather spoke up, interrupting Niall who seemed so nervous by now that Liam had to take both of his hands into his to stop him from biting his nails.

“I don’t know. Because you never talked to my dad a lot because of my mom. I just want everyone to get along… “ May was catching up on a lot of things no one thought she realized, and Liam kinda felt proud of her, but he was also afraid of the direction this conversation was headed. “Whenever I get hurt my dad always lets me make a wish so I’ll feel better… I got hurt in a lot, _a lot_ of places, sooo… so I can make a really big wish, right?”

No one said anything to that because everyone knew what she was about to say even before she continued. 

“So I wish everyone could get along and that no one is fighting anymore.” Could it really have been this damn easy? Liam truly wished it could have.

There was more silence following that, and Liam could tell that May was about to say more, but she didn’t get the chance to do that because her grandmother was faster.

“Niall, could we speak outside with you?” The thing was though, it was really hard to look through their façade and tell what they were truly thinking, and Liam also saw that reflected in the panic clearly rising in the younger’s face. “Alone?”

“Um… okay.” Niall answered after some hesitation, and Liam knew he didn’t wanna leave May, or speak to them alone, but he couldn’t really just come along, could he? “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” May seemed happy about it honestly, she didn’t look at all worried when Niall kissed her forehead briefly, and Liam squeezed his hand for a second right before the younger man left after May’s grandparents, closing the door behind himself. “I also wished you and my dad could get married but I didn’t wanna say that when everyone was here.”

“Thank you.” Liam told her quite honestly, trying not to let his fear show, but it seemed he was doing a terrible job at it.

“They are going to make it all work out now. It’s all going to be fine.” The girl said it with the most confidence and Liam had to let out a laugh, more out of surprise really to have MAY calming HIM down. 

“Sometimes I’m not sure if you’re 7 or an adult.” Liam joked, in a fond way, but he could tell May took pride in it when he sat on the edge of the hospital bed so they could share the rest of her sweets. Stress eating always made everything better. 

She just shrugged though, with a smile on her face, and then she made Liam laugh for real even though he didn’t even know yet whether things would be okay or not, whether she was right with her theory or not. “If we can’t go home for a really long time and we get bored you can finally learn how to do my hair better.” 

There was just no way things couldn’t work out now, could they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! sorry this is so late, i started my old summer job at the cinema again and am already questioning if it was a good choice haha. 
> 
> i hope you liked the chapter! there will be 1 more next friday and then the fic is done & i will probably take a bit off and then decide what to work on next, feel free to leave suggestions/wishes/etc. :) i am definitely going to focus more on oneshots during the summer i think as i am working full time for 3 months but well see!
> 
> also, would you guys prefer the next chapter to be an epilogue? or i could also split it in half and make a time jump somewhere in the chapter! let me know :)


	25. Chapter 25

Liam and May spent quite a lot of time by themselves, but maybe it also seemed that way to Liam because of how nervous he was. May was really good at distracting him though she wasn’t doing it on purpose, but it helped nevertheless. They watched videos on Liam’s phone, mostly of the fireworks from last night because May complained she had completely missed out on New Year’s Eve and Liam had to admit that he hadn’t even noticed.

The urge to go outside and join Niall for that conversation was almost unbearable, but Liam couldn’t leave May by herself and he also didn’t want to, he was just afraid of something terrible happening and him not being there to help the younger man out. After all… their whole future was kind of being decided out there, or at least influenced by whatever May’s grandparents decided to do from this point on. Like… could they have really had a complete change of heart? Or maybe partly would’ve already been good enough.

“How long do you think I’m gonna have to stay here?” May asked Liam after a while, all her candy already gone and the man thought about pretending to go buy more just so he could check in on Niall. But he couldn’t also wouln’t do that of course. 

“I have no idea, I’m sorry. But you’re doing alright and you’re not in too much pain right now, are you?” Well, they did regularly give her something to manage the pain, so maybe Liam shouldn’t have encouraged her this much. 

“Yeah. I think I could be home right now and I’d feel the same.” May told Liam, as if he was the one calling the shots and he felt really bad for her. “I’m gonna tell the doctor that when he comes back.”

“That’s a good idea.” It was, right? At least it couldn’t do any harm and Liam also wished she could go home as soon as possible, even if… well, even if that would maybe possibly mean he’d have to say goodbye to Niall once more. But honestly, Liam didn’t plan on doing that again, he had walked away once and it had been awful for everyone involved, it had led to them being here right now, so what good would it bring? And May’s grandparents already made Niall do whatever they wanted anyways. “You’re gonna have a lot to tell your friends about when you see them.”

“But I don’t remember anything. And my dad said I can’t talk about you so I can’t tell them anything.” Right, Liam was an idiot. “Or maybe I can when everything is fine again. You’re not going to leave again, right? I really don’t want you to, but I think my dad wants you to stay even more than me. And that’s a lot.”

“I don’t wanna leave you guys either, May… I also didn’t before. It was just a lot of adult things going on.” Liam had to bite his tongue so he wouldn’t accidentally say too much.

The girl stayed quiet for a moment, playing with some candy wrappers still lying around on the bed and Liam watched her, a little surprised when she spoke up again. “It was because my grandparents don’t like my dad, right? And they also don’t like you even though it’s not fair because they don’t know you. They’re mad because my mom and my dad weren’t in love and that my mom died. And also that I was in a few pictures with you. But it’s no one’s fault, right? I hope they say sorry because I don’t like spending so much time with them and without my dad. And you.”

For just a second Liam thought about denying it all, but why would he lie? So he opted to go for the easiest choice, which was neither confirming nor denying it. “I hope so too.”

“They have to because I’m just gonna run away again otherwise.” Okay, well, Liam would have been alarmed right now, except… “… when I can walk again. How long does my leg need to grow a new bone?”

That made Liam laugh just a bit, even though he wasn’t actually amused at all about the situation. “You’ve still got all your bones, May, it just broke and it needs to grow back together and that can take a little bit longer. But eventually it’ll all be fine again and then you won’t even notice anymore what happened, okay? I know it’s annoying, but… you probably won’t have to go to school for a bit, and your friends can come visit you instead and that doesn’t sound all too bad, right?”

“And everyone has to be nice to me.” The little girl added with a smile and Liam returned it, but he felt a bit nervous about that part because he wasn’t sure if everything would really turn out how they all wanted it to.

He made sure to switch the topic after that, hoping that Niall’s grandparents would come back soon with some toys or that Louis would walk back in here with some more candy. Mostly though, Liam wished Niall would just come back already. 

But he didn’t, for at least half an hour, probably even more, and no one else did either, just a nurse to check on May, having to promise her right then and there that she would tell the doctor all about how May wanted to go home already. And then because they had some banter going on, the nurse suddenly asked Liam for an autograph for her own daughter and it once again hit him that he hadn’t thought about anyone recognizing him here, but since he had nothing to do anyways and May thought it was a brilliant idea, he wrote a short letter to that other girl. After all, he knew first hand how happy it had made May once.

Eventually, May wanted to nap, so Liam sat back on his chair, playing on his phone and almost not expecting it when Niall suddenly walked into the room, all by himself, and it caused Liam’s heart to skip as he almost dropped his phone as well and sat up more straight.

“What happened?” He was half whispering, but having to really force himself to because of how worried he was. And judging by Niall’s facial expression, it couldn’t have gone TOO well.

The younger man didn’t answer immediately, he just closed the door, throwing a look at May before suddenly coming over to sit on Liam’s lap, needing a moment to actually speak up. “I need to ask you something and it’s really important.”

“Okay… what is it?” Liam asked after swallowing, his hands having come to settle on the younger’s hips immediately, feeling goosebumps rising all over his skin as he waited, studying the younger’s facial expression.

When Niall leaned in closer, running his fingers through the older’s hair, Liam was confused because his actions didn’t quite match the look on his face, and it was only when Niall spoke up again that Liam realized what was happening. “Will you be my boyfriend again?”

Niall had just been messing with him.

“Wha- you had me so worried!” Liam complained, immediately trying to be more quiet again as the younger man laughed shortly, unexpectedly pressing a kiss to Liam’s lips that lasted a bit longer than expected. Fuck, did that mean… “So they’re okay with it? You talked it all out?”

“Sorta. You still haven’t answered the question.” Niall joked, his face all happy now and Liam immediately felt the way his chest and throat loosened up.

“Do I really need to? Of course I’ll be your boyfriend again. I never really wasn’t.” Even when they had been broken up, in Liam’s mind Niall had been the only one all along. Fuck, this felt too good to be real right now.

“I love you.” Niall told him, kissing him again before Liam could say it back and it all felt so fucking perfect and simple that Liam should’ve honestly expected that there was more to come, but he really didn’t, only when Niall softly pulled away, brushing their noses together before looking at Liam once more, still playing with his hair. “They’ve gone to get food or something, to give us some privacy… and there’s something else I wanted to tell you before they come back.”

“What is it?” Now Liam wasn’t sure if it’d be another joke or not, but judging by the look on Niall’s face, it really wasn’t.

“I talked with them about pretty much everything and… they kinda apologized for it all? I mean… not directly, but they explained it to me from their point of view and… and that they only now realized that it was really only harming May instead of actually doing her any good, don’t know if I really believe that but it’s whatever at this point. Anyways… I kinda… I kinda think they’re only now okay with you and me being together because you offered to pay for any kinda therapy May needs and a teacher, which you really don’t have to by the way and-“

“I will.” Liam interrupted, because he was aware that Niall did have insurance and whatnot but it’d literally be crazy to not help him out financially at this point and just this once Liam was actually certain that the younger man would accept it. 

“Thank you... Well, what I really wanted to say was that at the end they kinda hesitated and then… I mean, they basically told me that the reason they went through with all this was because May’s grandad was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago. And… they took the opportunity to try and get May to spend more time with her before it was too late… also, I kinda think her grandmother is afraid of being alone in a few years and… and apparently May reminds them a lot of their daughter, so I think that was mostly the reason.” Oh.

“But he’s not getting treatment? I mean, what’s going on with him exactly?” Liam had to admit he was surprised, but it still didn’t excuse anything that had happened. 

“They didn’t tell me, didn’t seem like they wanted to talk about it really. I’m also not sure if they told me the entire truth or whatever, but it really doesn’t matter to me if I’m being honest. I mean obviously I don’t want him to die, I just mean I’m glad they told me they’d drop their lawyer and they’d be okay with just handling it all privately, and possibly try to have a more… normal relationship with me? And they don’t care about who I’m dating as long as we try to keep May out of the public eye, which I think is in all our interest anyways, so… “ Niall shrugged, and Liam had to kinda process all of this a little bit, but then again, he was just mostly relieved. “I just hope they really mean it.”

“I think they do… also, if they decide to be okay with it all now and not take any legal actions they can’t just change their minds in a few months. And we’ll be more careful now about May being photographed and things like that, my life is gonna be a lot less busy this year anyways. We’ll figure it out.” Liam promised, though he couldn’t actually know any of that for certain, but somehow he just had a good feeling about it all. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Niall told him with a small smile, looking into Liam’s eyes for a moment longer before leaning down to kiss him again. “Thank you… for everything. And I’m sorry for-“

“Ni, you don’t have to apologize, for anything. Or thank me. It will all be fine, we’ll move on from this and then whatever else happens we can figure it out, together. Okay?” Liam didn’t have to wait for the younger man to agree before suddenly wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck, hugging him tightly while still sitting on his lap and Liam felt a smile forming on his face as he hugged back, letting his eyes fall closed for a bit as he just took in the moment. Just a day ago, he would have never thought he’d ever hold Niall this way again, and now they were here, and by some crazy miracle, everything seemed to have really turned out okay. Maybe there was something to Harry’s destiny theory after all.

Because if they got through this, they could get through everything else, Liam was certain of it.

 

\---------------- 5 years later -------------------

 

“I didn’t know this was a thing. Why did I not know that?” Liam was beyond confused, not only after what May had just tried to tell him about, but also because he was probably the worst person EVER when it came to changing a bloody diaper. And it’s not that he hadn’t practiced, because he HAD, he just wasn’t good at it.

“Because you’re old.” May told him from the other side of the room where she was half lying down on the rocking chair, playing with her iPad that Niall only allowed her to have for an hour a day. But Niall wasn’t here, or Liam would have not been the one changing diapers. 

“I’m not _old_.” Liam defended himself, starting all over again with a new diaper because his daughter kept moving but she was smiling at him and trying to talk so he couldn’t even get frustrated. 

“You’re like… 30. That’s kinda old.” Okay, how had they ended up turning this into a discussion?

“It’s not old at all. And I use a lot of social media and electronics so if it really was a thing I would’ve known.” The man decided, almost proud of himself before noticing that he had put the diaper on the wrong way. 

“It’s totally a thing since a while, ALL my friends have Youtube channels and if I had a phone-“

“You don’t get a phone, May. You’re 12.” To be fair, most kids her age had a phone and Liam and Niall knew that, but these other kids weren’t theirs so whatever.

“So? I’m almost a teenager.” She was right, where had the time gone? “And at least I know how to put diapers on a baby.”

“Fine, then you can do it.” Liam was done trying anyways, actually, he was really relieved when May actually came to take over for him. She and Niall had both tried to teach him, multiple times, it just never ended well and after he had gotten pooped on, Liam was being even more careful. “Why is she so calm when you do it?”

“Because she likes me better.” May joked, but Liam could also hear the tiny bit of annoyance in her voice from the phone conversation and he suppressed a sigh, deciding to change the topic as soon as he got a chance. “Isn’t that right, Gracie? You like me so much better than any of your dads because I’m so much cooler.”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough.” Liam laughed, playfully pulling on May’s braid and he decided to just take the eye roll he got for that. “What do you wanna eat?”

“Umm… can we order?” The girl asked with the most hopeful expression on her face, and how could Liam have said no to the prospect of not having to cook or do any dishes? 

“If you don’t tell your dad.” He decided after a second and he and May shook hands over it, knowing well enough that Niall would know anyways, but he probably wouldn’t care tonight because of how late it’d be once he came home. 

“Can we also get ice cream?” Well, again, who was Liam to say no? “And cake? Oh my god, can we get donuts?! There’s this super cool place you can order from, my friend’s mom once did that, I can do it, I know how and where.”

“I mean… maybe we should choose one. Or two, but that’s the maximum, okay?” The thing was, all of it sounded good to Liam as well and hell, this week had been exhausting and they’d never eat all of it anyways and leftover desert always sounded great. “Did you do your homework?”

“No.” May shrugged, having started to re-dress Gracie because she had already been on it and Liam wasn’t going to complain. “It’s not due until next week and if I do it too soon I’ll forget all about it once the teachers ask me about it and it’s gonna look like I copied it from someone.”

“… fair enough.” Liam couldn’t argue with that logic, but he also kinda felt like a bad parent at the same time. But as long as she got the homework done in the end… right? “Can you get Gracie her bottle while I go wake your brother?”

“Sure.” She had done it a million times before, but Liam just wanted to make sure. May was a great babysitter, but she was too young to really be left alone with a baby and a 3 year old unless there was some adult at least in the other room. It was still a big help when either Niall or Liam were alone with all the kids, or even when they wanted some privacy, which… was a rare thing to get nowadays. Unless it was like, one in the morning.

Liam kissed the back of May’s head as he walked passed, not being able to resist and lean down to blow raspberries against Gracie’s cheek even though it made May complain that he was getting in her way. They should’ve already woken Tommy a while ago, but Liam had forgotten so now he was definitely going to have the hardest time ever getting him to go to sleep in a few hours. Hopefully he’d manage before Niall came home though because he didn’t wanna make him feel as if everything went wrong when Liam was in charge of the kids all day. 

As expected, Tommy was still deep asleep, not even budging as Liam sat on the side of his bed, carefully because it was a kids’ bed and he didn’t necessarily wanna break it after they had literally just gotten it. 

“Hey, buddy… time to wake up.” Liam tried, softly, rubbing his son’s back slowly in an attempt to wake him as gently as possible. It never quite worked.

“No.” Was all the little boy said, turning away from Liam and trying to bury himself underneath the blanket. 

“Are you not hungry?” Liam continued before deciding that if a bribe worked, he’d take it today. “We’re also getting dessert. You love donuts, don’t you?”

“Hmm… no.” Tommy decided in his sleepy voice and Liam tried to slowly pull away the blanket a bit, but the boy was clinging to it for dear life. 

“Okay, but what about… ice cream?” He’d just let May get everything, whatever, it had been an exhausting day and at least it’d make the kids happy. 

“No.” So then Liam managed to sneak a hand underneath the blanket, tickling the boy’s side a bit but it only resulted in him moving away even further, until the wall stopped him. “…is daddy home now?”

“Daddy is at university and then he’s gonna be at work, he won’t be home for a while.” Niall wasn’t usually gone for so long or so late, so it wasn’t really something the kids were used to. Then again, Gracie didn’t notice because she was a baby, and May was really independent for a 12 year old, so it was really only Tommy who was affected by it. He was very attached to both of them, so he didn’t like when either of them were gone. Liam could relate to that. “C’mon, if you’re quick enough you can go tell your sister what dessert you want before she only gets what she likes.”

There was more shuffling, more “No”’s, more huffing until eventually the little boy managed to sit up, rubbing his eyes with his fists while Liam petted his back softly, simply relieved that he had gotten Tommy to wake up. Way too late, but he was trying his best here. 

“Can I open the curtains?” Liam asked after giving him a few moments, about to get up from the bed but his son was immediately clinging to his arm.

“Carry me.” He was definitely like May had been years ago with the being carried around by Liam, and he also had Niall’s and May’s piercing blue eyes. Gracie looked more like Liam, but it was hard to tell at this age really and it didn’t really matter anyways because Niall and Liam both agreed that they had the cutest kids anyways, all three of them. 

“Alright, come here, bug.” Liam pretended to have a hard time picking Tommy up, kissing his chubby cheek. “You’re getting so big so fast.”

There was no real answer, just a whine when Liam pulled the curtains back, the little boy hiding his face against his shoulder to block out the light and Liam was afraid he’d fall back asleep on him any second, so he went on a search for the girls with him. They had moved house not all too long ago, after Niall had admitted to Liam that he was kinda going crazy in Liam’s old house because of how big it had been and how keeping it clean had been an absolute nightmare, especially with so many kids, and a dog. 

So now they lived in a more normal sized house, actually already the fourth place they had moved in together. Years ago, after they had broken up for a month and everything going on with May, Liam had moved in with Niall in his old apartment, helping out a lot with May’s recovery because Niall had refused to quit any of his jobs. Eventually, after a few months, they had started spending more and more time at Liam’s place, and somehow Liam had managed to convince Niall to just give up his own apartment, save the rent because he had still hated taking any money from Liam back then.

Everything had changed again after they had gotten married another year later and made the decision to have a baby together through surrogacy and May _insisting_ on getting Liam’s dog back from his parents, so they had moved to Liam’s house. And it had been great for a while, but Liam also had to admit that he liked it better here, it feel more homey, more comfortable. Plus, he didn’t lose the kids so often, so that was a big plus. 

“Have you already decided what you wanna get?” Liam asked casually as he found May in the living room, sitting on the floor with Gracie on her lap, a very concentrated look on her face as she did whatever on the iPad. “Oh, wait, you’re gonna need my credit c-“

“I already ordered. I thought I was supposed to.” May looked up for a moment, moving the device away from her sister’s grabby hands. “Don’t worry, I know your favorites.”

“How did you do that without my card?” Now Liam was a bit concerned with just how good May was with technology considering her time on it was limited to an hour a day. 

“It’s saved because you have an account.” Right. “Do you not remember doing that?”

“Of course I remember, I just forgot for a second. And don’t say what you’re about to say, missy, it has nothing to do with my age.” May just giggled as an answer and Liam rolled his eyes playfully as he sat down on the couch, still holding Tommy. “What movie do you wanna watch?”

“Oh, can we finally watch the last Harry Potter?” The girl was immediately all excited, even forgetting about the iPad and Liam was about to say no because it wasn’t age appropriate for all the kids, but like, he was always equally excited to watch the series with her now that she was old enough. Niall thought it was absolutely hilarious, but he had never stayed to watch with them for longer than half an hour. 

“But- but I wanna watch a movie with animals.” Tommy whined with his little lisp, now finally deciding to lift his head from Liam’s shoulder, still rubbing at his eye. “Or with princesses.”

“But we always watch that.” May got up, making Liam’s heart skip a few beats with how she held Gracie, but the little girl was just giggling away being manhandled by her sister. “Me and dad both wanna watch Harry Potter, you’re outvoted, Tommy.”

“What?” The little boy asked, looking from his big sister to Liam and back and Liam already saw the tears forming in his eyes so he held him tighter, throwing a hopefully convincing look at May, but she just looked annoyed when she sat down on the couch, placing Gracie in between them. “But daddy I don’t want a scary movie.”

“It’s not scary.” May threw in quickly, looking hopeful when she shared a look with Liam and the man was slightly torn because he also wasn’t sure how many more toddler movies he would survive. Which was bad, because once Tommy grew out of that phase they still had a third child. 

“I mean… “ Liam started, having to really get it together now because HE was the adult here. “How about… how about we choose a movie we all wanna see and I promise I’ll finish Harry Potter with you in the next few days.”

“But there’s nothing else I wanna see.” The girl complained, and Tommy still looked close to crying while Gracie was having the time of her life playing with her empty bottle in between them, knocking it against Liam’s arm with a sing-song consisting of just babbling and _Da-Da_. “Can I eat in my room?”

“No, you can’t.” Liam decided immediately, trying to be firm on this one.

“Daddy, I want Peppa Pig.” Okay, this was truly where Liam had to draw a line.

May was about to open her mouth, undoubtedly about to say something that would upset her brother, so Liam just said the first thing that came to his mind. “How about a compromise? We’ll watch something you both _don’t_ wanna see.”

“That’s a really bad compromise.” May looked very unsure, and to be fair, this was also a punishment for Liam himself, but he just wanted to avoid an escalation. 

“What’s a com-comp… rise?” Tommy asked, so busy with trying to get the word out right that he didn’t complain when Liam placed him next to his little sister so he could go and get the other remote. 

“It’s called compromise. And dad is really not good at it.” May explained to her brother, making Liam hold back a laugh. “What are we watching now?”

Liam didn’t answer, he just turned on the TV and then started searching on Netflix after sitting back down with the kids while they were all watching intently, probably in fear of what he was about to settle on, and Liam definitely got the reaction he had anticipated once he chose something to watch. The most neutral thing ever.

“Nooo, dad, please, not a documentary!” May sounded as if it was the worst thing to ever happen to her, letting herself half fall off the couch and her saying the word documentary also got her brother upset even though he probably didn’t really know what it was until Liam had started it. “Please, I’d rather watch nothing at all.”

“We could all use some education. And look, Tommy, it’s even got some animals.” Liam joked, his son looking hopeful for a second before his mood changed very quickly.

“But I didn’t want real animals… I wanted a real movie.” He complained, still climbing back on Liam’s lap though. At least no one was crying or fighting, that was a start. 

“You don’t even like documentaries, dad.” May threw in, letting out a heavy sigh when Liam didn’t react, fully lying down on the couch now and just staring at the ceiling instead, but only for as long as it took for Gracie to start pulling on her hair and putting it in her mouth. It still made Liam smile whenever May called him dad, even though she had been doing it for years now and Liam had also legally adopted her after getting married to NIall, but she did sometimes switch back to calling him by his name, randomly though, and he didn’t mind it at all, he just really liked that she called him dad as well. May _was_ his daughter also, there was no difference in Liam’s mind between her and the other two kids.

“Look how interesting, you’re gonna impress all your friends with that knowledge.” Liam joked, grinning at May when she glared at him, easily moving out of his reach when he tried to ruffle her hair. “Wow, who knew the pyramids were this high?”

“Literally everyone.” May told him in the most bored voice ever and Liam had to bite the inside of his cheek so he wouldn’t laugh. “And that’s not even the largest one they showed, I had a presentation about that in school.”

“Alright, you’ve already got an advanced level of knowledge about pyramids, but not everyone does, maybe I’m really interested in this and you’re spoiling everything for me.” The man joked, trying to keep a serious face while saying it.

“It’s a historical documentary, how can there be spoilers?!” The girl sounded frustrated with Liam, but after a few more moments, all of the kids kinda settled down and at least they were all so bored that no one wanted to talk anymore and Liam had to kinda admit that he zoned out after a few minutes also. 

May had ordered way too much food, but she did get up immediately to run and get it when the doorbell rung, and she also got plates for everyone and told Liam thank you for paying, so why would he have mentioned that? Also, Niall would probably be hungry when he got home as well, so leftovers wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

Usually they ate at the table, but Liam had to pretend to really enjoy this documentary so much that he wanted to eat on the couch, so obviously he had to allow the kids to do the same. Plus, Tommy made a mess anywhere, so it really made no difference in the end. It just got a bit difficult when their dog Watson came to join them and they were eating right in front of him, but May volunteered to go and fill his food bowl. Probably just to avoid having to watching too much of the documentary.

They had so much dessert that even the kids decided themselves they’d get sick if they ate all of it and that really said something. It’d be great for breakfast though, Liam decided, but only for himself because Niall would’ve NEVER allowed May and Tommy to have donuts for breakfast. He’d also not want Liam to, but… fuck, they were just so good.

“… how much time is left?” May asked 2 hours into the documentary, Gracie having long fallen asleep in Liam’s arms, sucking on her thumb after he had given up on pulling it out of her mouth. 

“… 15 minutes.” Liam told her after checking, a little surprised when he saw how much time had passed. Tommy was also clearly having a hard time staying awake at this point, he had gotten down on the floor to play with Watson before and now they were both just lying there. “We should all get ready for bed after it’s over.”

“But it’s too early for that.” True, but Liam was tired and he needed to take advantage of the two little ones being tired also. “When is dad coming back?”

“In a few hours… he’s still at uni because he has an exam and then he’s helping Louis at the studio.” Niall had quit his jobs years ago, he still did occasionally give guitar lessons because he enjoyed it, but he spent most of his time with Louis at the studio now, they were kinda like partners and the studio itself was going better than ever before. Plus, Niall was going back to uni to study music engineering and it came rather easy to him because he had already had so much practical knowledge. 

Somehow, Liam had managed to convince Niall to write a song with him a year ago, and help produce his latest album, and Niall was also naturally good at planning things surrounding Liam’s performances or interviews or whatever, so they were like, a dream team. Like, their lives were stressful, but Liam would have never even dared to dream for everything to be so damn perfect. To be married to the love of his life, with 3 wonderful kids, a dog, both him and Niall getting to do what they wanted for a living… it was magical really.

“It’s really fun how dad is writing exams too.” Except Niall had a way better work ethic when it came to studying than May, but Liam didn’t say that obviously. She got really good grades in school because she picked up on things quickly, once she decided to actually do them. “What’s the topic of his exam?”

“I… I have no idea.” Liam admitted, though he had of course asked Niall and even helped him study at one point by asking him things from flash cards he had not even understood, it’s just… Niall was at the end of his second year, it was probably normal Liam didn’t get any of it. “Something complicated with music.”

“Like all of them.” The girl nodded and Liam threw a quick smile at her. “Do you ever wanna go to uni as well?”

“I don’t think so… I’ve not studied anything in so long, I’ve forgotten how. I’d be a terrible student.” And there was also nothing Liam actually WANTED to get a degree in, but he didn’t wanna demotivate May or anything. “But you still wanna go, right?”

“Yeah, dad said it’s really important, but it’s also really far away in the future… when I’m finished with school Tommy is gonna be older than I was when me and dad met you.” He would be, which was kinda crazy to even think about. “That was like… half my entire life ago.”

“It was… “ Liam had to actually let that sink in for a moment, the fact that he had been in May’s life for this long, even though not always as a parent but still. It was crazy how quickly time flew by sometimes. “I still think I was a better choice to be a fan of than whoever you’re into now.”

“I just like other genres now, if you did something different I’d help you with your streams again.” The way she said it so seriously made Liam laugh, regretting it on an instant when Gracie moved a bit in his arms. “But I still wanna come along to that award show.”

“Of course you do.” Liam smirked, recalling how excited she had been when he had told her after asking Niall whether it’d be okay. She had been to award shows before, but never with just Liam, so it was kinda special. “But I can’t promise I can introduce you to everyone you wanna meet, I don’t even know who’s gonna show up.”

“That’s fine, it’s gonna be really fun.” May seemed happy about just going either way, so that made Liam happy also because sometimes he did feel a bit of pressure to still have his kids think he was kinda cool. 

For a long time Liam had tried his best to keep his private life out of the media and the public after everything that had happened 5 years ago. Of course at some point pictures had shown up, and rumors and stories, and everybody knew Liam and Niall were married, and their kids’ names, a few pictures that Liam had posted, but they were doing a fairly good job at keeping it all low key. 

May’s grandparents had never again threatened to sue Niall. The beginning had been a bit difficult, but when May’s grandfather had gotten increasingly more sick because no treatment had helped even after Liam had paid for quite a few, things had changed very quickly. He had passed away last year and it had honestly been terrible because they had all started to really get along. So now May’s grandmother actually spent quite a lot of time with them, and she loved Gracie and Tommy also and they had even gone on a trip with her a few months ago. It was still sad, how everything had gone down when it could’ve just been handled better in the beginning, but things were still perfect the way they were now and Liam wouldn’t have traded his life in for anything in this world.

Despite a few weak protests, Liam managed to get Tommy to go to sleep after the documentary was over and he had put Gracie in her crib, but it took half a book to actually achieve that, which he ended up reading to the boy in his and Niall’s bed. He had actually planned on just carrying him into his own bed after that, but he didn’t wanna risk anything just yet and he kinda also wanted to wait up for Niall anyways. Plus, May had other plans for him.

“This is a terrible idea.” Liam KNEW it was, but he also didn’t do anything to stop May from putting Harry Potter on before coming back to sit on the couch with him, with the leftover desserts from earlier.

“It’s a great idea.” The girl insisted, handing Liam the box of donuts and well... why the hell not?

Liam never got to spend as much individual time with the kids as he would have liked, so he decided to explain it to Niall that way once he came home and found them like this. Except, he never really had to in the end.

 

\-----------------------

 

Niall was beyond tired when he FINALLY got home, after Louis had revealed to him that he had kinda not told him the correct times or whatever, so they had ended up recording with this band for longer than planned and Niall felt a bit brain dead as he entered the house. Watson came to greet him, lazily though and Niall was glad because he wouldn’t have wanted anyone to wake up on accident. 

Liam hadn’t texted back in a while, so Niall was fairly certain that he had gone to bed as well, but he wasn’t quite sure anymore once he passed the living room. For a moment, Niall thought either May or Tommy had snuck out of bed to watch TV or something, but when he actually entered the room and took in the whole scene, he both wanted to laugh but also felt his heart warming. God, he had missed Liam today.

There was tons of food leftovers on the couch table, and Liam was deep asleep on the couch, all by himself, with Harry Potter still playing on the TV, none of the kids anywhere in sight. Just standing there for a second and staring at his husband, Niall almost couldn’t believe how in love he was with him.

He got the blanket from the armchair, putting it over Liam before sitting on the small space he had left on the couch, just looking down at him for a few moments, not being able to help himself as he leaned down to kiss the older man’s cheek, softly threading his fingers through his hair. Niall felt a bit bad when Liam moved, clearly waking up, but he probably wouldn’t have wanted to spend the whole night on that couch anyways.

“Hi… sorry for waking you.” Niall half whispered when Liam blinked his eyes open, clearly confused for a moment as he stared up at the younger man. 

“You’re back… how… how was your exam?” Liam took some time to find the right words, having to yawn quite a bit as he managed to prop himself up on his elbow, leaning into Niall’s touch as the younger man continued to play with his hair, eyes dropping closed again.

“It was really good, actually. Sorry it’s gotten so late, Louis didn’t wanna let me leave.” Niall rolled his eyes a bit before leaning down to kiss Liam properly, something he had wanted to do all day long. “Were the kids good?”

“Most of the time.” Liam smiled and Niall returned it. “Seems like May ditched me a while ago to go to bed. She convinced me to watch Harry Potter with her, but I think I passed out after half an hour or so.”

“I thought you were just down here watching by yourself to unwind or something.” Niall laughed, throwing a look at all the food and the older man was quick to explain.

“It wasn’t all for me, and I thought you’d surely be hungry when you get home.” It kinda sounded like an excuse, but it’s not like Niall cared how much food Liam had gotten, he just found it really cute how he was trying to explain it. “I was going to put it in the fridge, but then… I feel asleep.”

“’s fine, I can do it and you can go to bed if you want.” He wouldn’t have minded at all, Liam looked like he’d pass out again any second, letting his eyes fall closed when Niall moved his hand to stroke his face instead. “C’mon, before you fall back asleep. I’ll come join you in a second.”

“You really don’t have to put anything away.” Liam weakly protested as he stretched a bit, needing a few more moments before eventually deciding to get up, keeping the blanket draped around him though. 

“I don’t mind.” Niall shrugged, pulling the older man closer though once they were both standing and Liam complied easily, a smile forming on his lips as he wrapped his arms around Niall in return. “I really missed you today.”

“I missed you too. And so did the kids.” Liam kissed him, more deeply than Niall would have expected right now but he certainly wasn’t complaining in any way. When Liam had to yawn they kinda had to break the kiss though and Niall laughed as he pressed his lips against his husband’s cheek, sending him off to bed yet again.

He tried to be quick cleaning up and putting leftovers away, but there wasn’t much to do anyways, so Niall quickly made sure all the doors were locked and the curtains drawn before heading upstairs, Watson trailing behind. On top of the stairs, Niall almost bumped into Liam carrying their sleeping son across the hallway.

“I forgot I read him to sleep in our bed.” Liam whispered and Niall smiled, briefly stepping closer to rub Tommy’s back, careful not to wake him.

“I’ll check on the girls.” The younger man whispered back, going with Liam for a few meters before ever so carefully opening Gracie’s door. She was deeply asleep, so Niall made sure to leave again fairly quickly, walking down to May’s room instead, where he was definitely surprised to find her wide awake reading, in bed, but still. “Why are you awake?”

“You’re back.” Was all the girl said, looking fairly happy when Niall came to sit on the edge of her bed, not sure whether to be upset or not. He decided for the latter. “How was your exam?”

“It was fine… how was school?” May just shrugged as an answer and Niall held back a sigh, looking at the book in her hands. “You left Liam to watch Harry Potter by himself so you could read?”

“I was really tired and dad was already asleep but then I couldn’t fall asleep but I also didn’t wanna go back downstairs. He made us watch a documentary before because me and Tommy couldn’t decide on a movie.” May rolled her eyes and Niall laughed because Liam always had the most creative ways to avoid fights between the kids. “But we got tons of dessert.”

“I saw that, yeah. That’s gonna last for a few days.” Or well, knowing their household, maybe until tomorrow night. “Are you sure you can’t go to sleep? It’s kinda late.”

“It’s only 10, that’s not that late.” May argued, and yeah, she had stayed up longer than that at times and there was no school tomorrow, but still. “Can I finish this chapter?”

“Alright, but then you gotta put the lights out, okay? Did you do your homework?” Niall asked more out of habit really, not all too surprised when she shook her head. 

“It’s only due Monday.” Well… “I always get it done on time.”

The man suppressed a smirk before deciding not to comment it any further, leaning forward instead to kiss his daughter’s forehead. “Alright. One more chapter, okay? I love you, sleep tight.” 

“I love you too.” She seemed very happy about Niall not being too strict on her, but she was very well behaved and she usually always listened to him and Liam, so there wasn’t ever really a reason to get angry with her or whatever.

Niall left Watson with her and closed the door upon leaving, turning off the lights on his way to his and Liam’s bedroom. It was far enough from the kids’ so that they wouldn’t disturb them if they talked or… well, did whatever. But it was also close enough for Tommy to crawl into bed with them about every second night, usually leaving the door wide open so that Watson saw it as an open invitation also. And probably Gracie as well in a year or so, but then they’d need a new bed.

“You’re still awake.” Niall was surprised when he entered, finding Liam half lying in bed, clearly struggling.

“I wanted to wait for you… everything okay with the kids?” The younger man nodded to that, starting to undress because he couldn’t be bothered to have a shower now anyways, there was always the morning for that. 

“Yeah, May is still awake reading. She didn’t seem guilty about leaving you alone downstairs.” Niall joked and Liam playfully rolled his eyes, getting out of bed though, probably so he could join Niall in brushing their teeth together. “Did you finish your Harry Potter marathon?”

“No, we’re missing the last one still. Or as much of it as she’s not seen because she went to bed… we’ll probably finish it over the weekend.” Liam didn’t make a secret upon staring at Niall when the younger man decided he didn’t need a shirt, but after being together for around 6 years, there was really nothing they hadn’t seen about each other. And the fact that they were still so in love with one another made Niall happier than anything in the world. He couldn’t have imagined his life without Liam in it. “Maybe you wanna join.”

“I’ve not seen any of them in a long time though… and I think May really likes having you to herself once a while.” Definitely, Liam was the absolute best dad, to all the kids, but his relationship with May was still special. Niall did sometimes recall that night three years ago, before Tommy had been born, where a 9-year-old May had come to ask him whether Liam would now love her any less, because she wasn’t his _real_ daughter. Liam had never made her feel this way, but Niall also understood that of course a child would have such worries, and he had talked it all out with her, and then told Liam about it as well a while later. She had never said anything regarding that again and Niall was fairly certain that fear had been very short-lived because Liam treated all the kids the same. But May being oldest and considering all their history, it was important to Niall that May got enough of alone time with both of them. 

“I like it too. She’s growing up way too fast, she’s gonna not wanna hang out with us anymore in like, a few months probably.” Okay, Liam was being a little dramatic here, putting his toothbrush in his mouth after they had finally made it to the bathroom connected to the room. The kids all shared one, because just because they had a fairly big house and money didn’t mean they had to be spoiled. 

“With me maybe, I don’t see her ever thinking this way about you. You know how excited she is to go to that award show with you? And not because of the celebrities there, she didn’t even mention that, she’s just really happy to spend time with you.” May wouldn’t say no to Liam introducing her to celebrities though, he had done it before whenever he knew she really liked someone he knew, but May was actually fairly good at keeping her cool. Also, she had definitely grown up a lot in that aspect.

“Well, what can I say, I’m just the coolest dad ever.” Liam grinned around his toothbrush when Niall rolled his eyes at him in the mirror, immediately pulling the younger man closer by his waist though. “Right after you.”

“Good safe.” Niall joked, leaning into the older man though as they brushed their teeth together, trying to finally get it over with so they could go and lie down because Niall was starting to really feel that long day. And also his time spent away from Liam.

“I’ve wanted to do this for the past 5 hours.” Liam sighed once he had gotten underneath the blanket after pretty much collapsing on the bed and Niall waited for him to literally scoot over from the younger’s side the very tiniest bit. Their bed was big, but Liam usually lied down mostly in the middle of it, wrapping Niall up in his arms so tightly that they barely needed more space than probably one person alone. Niall was so used to it though that he had quite a bit of trouble sleeping by himself, which luckily didn’t happen very often. “I can get up though if Gracie wakes up.”

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t.” Niall decided as he got underneath the blanket also, Liam immediately wrapping him up in his arms and pulling him close, lips placing kisses wherever he could reach. “You smell good.”

“Hmm, you too.” Liam mumbled against Niall’s skin, kissing him for real when the younger man turned his head, pressing closer into his husband as they deepened the kiss despite the fact that they were both clearly tired as hell. 

So they snogged for a while, just lazily, until eventually Niall was the one who had to yawn, and anyways, they both needed to catch their breath and go to sleep if they wanted to get anything at all done tomorrow. “I love you so much, Li… “

“I love you more.” Liam said it because he knew Niall would complain, chuckling quietly against the younger’s lips as he kinda stopped him from protesting with another quick kiss. “How are Harry and Louis?”

“How’d you think of them now?” Niall laughed, reaching over to turn off the lights, struggling a little because Liam was holding him so tightly. “They’re good. Excited about becoming parents next month, Louis showed me some ultrasound pictures.”

“I think it’s kinda funny how long they’ve waited. Even longer than Zayn, like.” It was true, Zayn had met someone around 4 years ago after switching to a different school, so they were colleagues. But to everyone’s surprised it had become serious rather quickly and Niall still remembered how Zayn had told him that his girlfriend was pregnant, right before Tommy had been born. They were the absolute cutest whenever they played together because they were like best friends and only a few months apart. “You know, I’ve been thinking…“

“About what?” Niall asked a bit absently, running his fingers lightly over Liam’s skin, still stuck thinking about how cute Tommy and Zayn’s son had been last weekend when they had babysat him. 

Liam didn’t answer immediately, so Niall knew he was actually being serious when he spoke up, sounding careful though when he said it out loud, surprising the younger man quite a bit. “I want another baby. Not now, but in a few years, when Gracie is older… I know we always said 3 kids, but they’re growing up so fast and she’s gonna be up running around and talking in like a year. And then Tommy will start pre-school soon and May will be a teenager and in 5 years or so they’re all gonna be so big. But it’s not like we gotta decide or talk about it now or anything, just… it was something I’ve been thinking about.”

Niall needed a moment to let this sink in, because he honestly hadn’t even really thought about it ever since Gracie had been born, like, he wasn’t opposed to the idea at all if he was being honest, just surprised. He absolutely LOVED how much Liam enjoyed being a dad though, like, he was just so fucking cute. “Hmm… I mean, I agree they’re growing up rather fast, and I think I’ll miss it too. I’ll also miss seeing you with a baby and playing with the kids and just all of it… I’m not against it, at all. But I’d definitely wanna wait until Gracie is like, 3 or so. So we can at least enjoy sleeping during the night for a little bit.”

“Maybe I’ll be so exhausted by then that I’ll change my mind again anyways.” Liam laughed quietly, but Niall kinda knew that he wasn’t going to change his mind. If he was being honest then he had kinda expected Liam to want more kids, he wouldn’t have been surprised had Liam wanted a 5th baby as well after the next one, but that was where Niall would draw a line. Like, 3 kids already felt like a handful most of the time, but FIVE… then again… they were far from being too old as well, even if they waited a bit.

“You never even complain when you had the kids all by yourself all day.” So Niall doubted that Liam would change his mind, and the older man also didn’t correct him. “Can we talk about it again in a year?”

“Sounds good to me.” The older man sounded relieved about Niall’s reaction for some reason, but before Niall could’ve said anything else, Liam’s lips had found his even in complete darkness and despite the fact that he was really exhausted, he let the older man move on top of him, just for a little bit of snogging before they’d go to sleep.

Niall’s life was truly perfect.

 

\---------------------

 

“Dad, you gotta wake up.” May’s voice was truly not the first thing Niall wanted to hear after having had a really nice dream, one that instantly disappeared from his memory the moment his daughter carried on. “It’s already 12.”

“… _what?!_ ” Almost immediately, Niall jerked into a sitting position, his head spinning and his eyes hurting from the lights already turned on. There was just laughter though and upon realizing what was going on, Niall let himself fall onto his back again, draping his arm over his eyes. “It’s really not funny… “

“Sorry, I tried to stop her.” Liam lied from next to Niall, and the younger man hadn’t even checked, but he was pretty sure ALL the kids were in bed with them. “It’s only 7.”

“Great… why are we all awake?” Niall mumbled, slowly moving his arm as he felt a child climbing on top of him and he automatically wrapped Tommy up in his arms as he snuggled into him, pushing his face into Niall’s neck. At least Niall wasn’t the only one still tired.

“Gracie had a crying fit and she woke everyone except you. And Watson needed to go outside.” Thank god for Liam handling all this without even batting an eye. 

“Has she calmed down now?” Niall asked before realizing he could just turn his head, squinting a bit against the light still but Gracie definitely looked very happy over her dad bouncing her a bit on his lap and May entertaining her by pulling faces. Now Niall felt guilty. “Usually I always hear her… “

“I didn’t either, Tommy came to get me because he wanted to sleep. But your little sister was too noisy, hm, buddy?” Liam asked the boy, and there was only a very quiet and sleepy “Yes” that probably only Niall heard. “Maybe I can cheer everyone up a bit by making breakfast.”

“Can we have the donuts from last night?!” May had just been waiting for her chance, hadn’t she? Right before Niall had been about to tell Liam he’d make breakfast because he had gotten to sleep longer. 

“That’s a lot of sugar.” Liam told her after a moment, but then his eyes met Niall’s and the younger man saw the question in them, asking for permission to just say yes and it took a bit of willpower for Niall to nod briefly. “But it’s just this one time, I think we can. I’ll still make something else though.”

“Yay! We also got leftover cake.” Even better. “But maybe we can save some, for when we continue the movie later… we will, right, dad?”

“Definitely. Although I’m a little upset you just ditched me to go read last night.” He was only joking of course, Niall heard the smile in his voice even after having let his eyes fall closed again, absently rubbing Tommy’s back. Pretty sure the little boy had actually managed to go back to sleep on him. 

“I tried waking you, but you just slept on. And then I got tired as well but I couldn’t sleep. And watching a movie alone is boring.” May explained, and Niall felt the bed moving when she seemed to crawl off of it. “I can set the table. And I can help.”

“Great, thank you. I’ll be there in a second.” Liam promised her, probably handing Gracie to her as well before May left the room because Niall felt his husband’s lips against his forehead just a moment later, his voice softer now. “Do you wanna sleep a bit longer? I can come get you two when we’re done.”

“I’m just resting my eyes, just for five minutes… “ Niall lied, feeling Liam’s breath against his skin when the older man chuckled a bit. “Thank you for handling everything… you’re the best husband ever.”

“Oh, I know.” The older man laughed again before kissing Niall’s lips, and then again when Niall weekly held onto him with his free hand. “I love you.”

“Love you too… “ Niall mumbled, again being overwhelmed by his tiredness.

So Liam left, but Niall somehow couldn’t go back to sleep, so eventually, he forced himself to get up. He tried waking Tommy, but then quickly gave up on it and simply decided to carry him downstairs to the kitchen with him. He’d wake up from the noise eventually, or maybe not, but at least then he’d be less cranky.

Upon entering the kitchen, Niall felt his heart warming taking in the scene, Liam easily balancing Gracie on his hip while May was sitting on the kitchen counter next to him, watching him make scrambled eggs while already eating her leftover donut, discussing some part of the movie from last night with Liam. The few scenes they must have seen together before Liam had fallen asleep.

Niall stopped for just a moment before stepping closer, briefly kissing May’s cheek because he hadn’t really said good morning to anyone, and then also Gracie’s while Liam was still holding her, but the older man didn’t let him leave. He left the spoon in the pan for a moment just to pull Niall closer against him, squeezing him softly as he pressed his face against the top of the younger’s head, just for a moment.

It was truly the most blissful Niall could’ve felt, and the thing was, he had a lot of these moments with his family, one he had never even dared to dream he’d have one day. There were ups and downs and exhausting days, like yesterday, and things had been everything but easy in the past, but now looking back on it all, Niall wouldn’t have changed any it for the world because the outcome was almost too good to be true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (quick side note, i wanted to actually make fake instagram posts for this chapter, but i had 0 time! so i just wanted to share this picture with you all that made me actually write tommy and gracie into the fic (and i hope this link works lmao): [x](https://kid-style.tumblr.com/post/136549426641/simply-divine-creation-oldjoy)
> 
> wow, after almost 7 months... it is done. funny how each time i start a new fic i plan on making it shorter and yet somehow it turns out even longer haha! so so much happened in the process of writing this fic (like in my real life haha), and i cant even remember starting it!
> 
> thank you all so much for sticking around & all the support and i really really hope you enjoyed this fic as much as i enjoyed writing it! i kinda wanted to go on with this chapter haha, i just really enjoy writing these happy endings way too much!
> 
> as i already said (and as usual), i am taking a break, maybe a week, maybe longer, but i do wanna focus on oneshots during the summer (but lets see how that is going to work out)! so please, as always lmao, leave wishes/suggestions in the comments if you want! and also definitely let me know your thoughts on this chapter or the fic as a whole if you want! hope you guys have an amazing weekend! i love you all <3
> 
>  
> 
> also, i just thought about this and i wanted to include a list of ideas i had/things id be interested in writing, and id thought id share it with you on here because maybe someone wants to add onto that or whatever!  
> \- a soulmate AU (this is what i kinda wanna do most right now)  
> \- a more realistic fic, like one where i take into account real events/the ending of 1D/them being solo artists etc.  
> \- another fic involving kids (not necessarily theirs, but just in general, maybe also make them kids haha idek)  
> \- one where they date from the beginning (this could be in any AU, id have to think about it)  
> \- a probably way too over written plain boring college au oneshot ha (id always be up for that)  
> \- another sugar daddy AU (different plot of course)  
> \- make one of them famous in another area (maybe even make them influencers/youtubers)  
> \- OR give one of them a really specific but kinda unusual job and then let them meet through that (thatd be a oneshot i think)  
> \- just some fun fic/oneshot with not that much drama (like them being best friends who are both single and then raise a kid together or something)  
> \- ...  
> .... the list could probably go on rip, id really love you guys input haha! i always keep looking at my fics that most people enjoyed, and they are all kinda unique in their own way, but i just loved the ideas/plots so much that i worked really hard on them. so id really love an idea what what excite me just as much as you guys!  
> also dont fear, if i cant decide i might just edit and finish fics ive got saved from YEARS ago that i never published/finished, some of them already have 100K+ words so it might actually feel kinda good to finish them after all! well see, but definitely let me know!!


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